


For Her Heart

by 1358456



Category: Pocket Monsters SPECIAL | Pokemon Adventures
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-14
Updated: 2020-10-07
Packaged: 2021-03-01 02:21:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 33,568
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23137585
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/1358456/pseuds/1358456
Summary: An Ao3 re-upload of the story of the same name on FF.net, For Her Heart (September 15, 2018 - August 31, 2020).A story based on Pokémon Special, the manga. Diamond always had a crush on Platinum, for sure. But once an incident causes Pearl to realize that he had developed an intense crush on her as well, things become complicated. Platinum is unaware of the situation, however, and strives to spend time with both of her friends, further deepening their feelings for her. But sooner or later she is going to have to make a choice and choose one. Until then, Diamond and Pearl would have to subtly compete to win the race for her heart...
Relationships: Platinum Berlitz/Diamond, Platinum Berlitz/Pearl
Comments: 1
Kudos: 32





	1. Defrosted Heart

**Author's Note:**

> For Her Heart (or Heart for short) will have updated/overhauled Dex Holder Pokemon teams, just like Eternal Legacy (or Legacy for short). Not that it really matters at all.

Chapter 1: Defrosted Heart

Sandgem Town, Sinnoh, 1 pm…

Platinum slid into her comfortable chair and inhaled deeply. She slowly closed her eyes and held her breath, calming herself and getting her mind and body ready for what she was going to do next.

After a minute, she slowly exhaled, while leaning into the soft padding on the chair. She resumed breathing and opened her eyes, looking out through the window right in front of her. She observed the calm peaceful day in her hometown, and felt completely at ease.

She heard movement from behind her and glanced to her side just as a maid carefully set a dish on the table, along with a full teapot, a cup, and a smaller plate full of snacks. The maid quietly retreated, giving the heiress her space and peace.

Platinum smiled and looked to her other side, where she saw a stack of books the maids and servants had picked for her today. Now she was finally ready to begin her reading session. She took the first book off of the stack, adjusted her glasses, and began reading. As she had done countless times before, she quickly got immersed in the book, focusing solely on its contents. Her eyes scanned the pages without missing a single word so rapidly that her fingers flipped the pages almost nonstop, pausing every now and then only to take a sip of her favorite tea or take a bite out of the prepared snack.

Within 10 minutes, she finished reading the first 500 page book, and with a content sigh, set the book aside. She refilled her teacup and stared off into the distance through the window of her private room in the Berlitz Mansion library. As per recommendation, she’d give her eyes a couple of minutes’ of rest between books as she pondered over the contents of her latest read.

It wasn’t the most amazing book she had read, but certainly something worthy of being on her recommendation list. … Admittedly, it was a list that grew endlessly, and no one else had a reading speed to match the rate of growth. Blue had the fastest reading rate of all the others, and she could only read at most 3 books per week, while Platinum’s recommendation list grew by 25 per week. Hmm…

Platinum soon set her teacup down and picked up the second book. This one was a novelization of a famous historic period in Sinnoh. It was a part of a series of 10 books, however. Platinum glanced at the stack of books and saw 8 remaining. She scanned the titles and saw Book 2 through Book 9, which meant some senseless maid or servant had decided to give her 9/10 of the series for the day instead of all 10. She let out a short sigh. Oh well. Once she finished Book 9, she would go on a hunt to find the 10th book. And then she’d instruct the maids and servants to be _thoughtful_ next time. But for now, reading time.

A couple of minutes later, Platinum snapped out of her thoughts and stopped reading her book when she felt something cold touching her leg. She blinked a few times as she took a moment to escape her immersion and return to reality. She looked down and spotted her Glaceon with its paw on her leg, looking at her intently.

“Oh? Hello,” Platinum said warmly. She immediately recognized what her Pokémon wanted. “You want a treat, no?”

The Glaceon nodded and waited expectantly. Platinum smiled and looked over at one of the attending servants. The servant quickly understood and after a bow, left the room to get the Glaceon’s favorite treat. Platinum tapped her lap, and the Glaceon understood and hopped onto her legs. Platinum smiled brightly and gently stroked her Pokémon while waiting for the servant to return.

Within a few minutes, the servant came back, looking a bit pale. Platinum frowned upon seeing his expression.

“I – I am terribly sorry, my lady,” the servant stammered out. “But it appears that we do not have any more of that treat.”

“Oh? Why not? I believe I requested it the last time we sent someone to Veilstone City’s department store,” Platinum said, slightly narrowing her eyes.

“Yes, but it seems that the maid who went there either forgot or could not find it, and did not check another store,” the servant hastily continued. “I – I will look into this matter immediately. In the meantime, I will send someone else to procure the treat.”

Platinum sighed and her Glaceon began to growl a bit while emitting a chill. Platinum pet her Glaceon to calm it down. She rose to her feet once her Pokémon hopped off and straightened out her clothes.

“That will not be necessary. I will head out to purchase the treat myself,” she said, with a hint of irritation in her voice. “I expect a detailed explanation of this issue when I return, however. It would be best if we can avoid this problem in the future.”

Platinum signaled her Glaceon to follow and left the library, heading towards her changing room so that she could prepare for a trip outside the mansion. By the time she finished changing, she saw a line of guards waiting for her outside the room.

“One of us will accompany you, my lady,” one of the guards said once she approached them.

Platinum glanced at the other guards, counting a total of 6 of them. She shook her head. “That will not be necessary. But thank you.”

“But my lady,” another guard began. Platinum held up a hand to silence him.

“I will be okay,” she said, putting a bit more force into her tone. “I do not require assistance or protection for this trip. I will not be going far.”

“… Yes, my lady,” the guards said reluctantly. “But please return quickly.”

Platinum didn’t reply and simply headed outside. Once she left the front gate, she sent out her Rapidash and hopped on, and embraced her Glaceon as it hopped onto her lap again. The Rapidash began to move once its trainer was comfortably seated.

Once she was sufficiently far away from the mansion, Platinum let out a sigh. It was nice to be outside again, and away from the _army_ of servants and maids who were sometimes so… well… _stuffy_ that it was frustrating to be around them. And must they follow the orders to the letter, and without using any common sense?

She had ordered the maids and servants to gather _at least_ 10 books every day for her daily reading sessions. She did not say _exactly_ 10\. So if there was a 10 book series, then all 10 should make it onto the daily reading stack, along with whatever else was also chosen, if necessary.

And for Glaceon’s snacks, Platinum had given the order to get her Pokémon’s favorite snack. But if that brand was unavailable for whatever reason, then any other brand would’ve sufficed. That would’ve certainly been better than _nothing_.

‘ _Frustrating…_ ’ she thought with another sigh.

She forced herself to lighten her mood, and looked off into the distance. The weather was beautiful today, which certainly helped ease her frustrations. And getting to travel, no matter how short the trip, was always nice in her opinion.

Platinum glanced around as she had no idea where she was supposed to be going. Where would she be able to purchase Pokémon snacks? She didn’t recall seeing such products in the Pokémart or Pokémon Center of Sandgem Town. … Maybe the shopping complex in Jubilife City? Jubilife was a big city, and a hub of activity in the western half of Sinnoh. It stood to reason that the shopping complex there would have what she needed.

After a brief moment of thought, she proceeded to order her Rapidash to head to the bus stop near the Pokémon Center, but stopped mid sentence. She smiled and lightly shook her head. … Force of habit. She didn’t need to ride her Rapidash to reach the bus stop to go to Jubilife City.

Platinum hopped off and returned both of her Pokémon to their Pokéballs. She took out another one from her bag and tossed it in the air, sending out her Altaria. She carefully climbed onto her new Pokémon, gave it a gentle pet, and hung on as it flew into the air. Platinum cast a glance at the ground _far_ below her, and gripped her Altaria a little tighter. These flights were always harrowing at first. She supposed that she would get used to it after a while, like all the other Dex Holders with aerial transport Pokémon. Platinum forced herself to relax a bit and gave the order to fly to Jubilife City.

…

Jubilife City, 1:30 pm…

…

Platinum let out a short sigh of relief as her Altaria landed near the Jubilife Mall. She got off the Altaria and took a moment to relax as she straightened out her hair and clothes, before giving her Altaria a gentle embrace and then returned it to its Pokéball.

She then looked at the shopping complex known as a mall. It wasn’t really a department store like the one in Veilstone, but rather a collection of a ton of other stores. Platinum had always wanted to explore inside one, but never had the chance. Now’s her chance, though!

Platinum cast one last glance at the mall’s exterior before heading for the entrance. The automatic doors parted ways, allowing her to step inside. And the moment she stepped into the mall and out of the entrance area, she paused in her steps, taken aback by the sheer number of people traversing around. And there were a _lot_ more stores crammed into the complex than she had imagined.

Platinum glanced left and right at the array of shops on the ground floor. She then looked up a bit to see glimpses of the arrays of shops on the second floor. She looked up even more to get a smaller glimpse of the array of shops on the third floor. … And was that a fourth floor? Platinum looked at her Pokétch. … Exploring this place was going to take some time.

…

Pearl stepped out of the bargain store and fished out a piece of paper from his pocket. He looked at the list of items he was here to purchase, and mentally crossed out the item he had just bought. Now he just had a small handful left and after getting a bite to eat, he could head on home. Fortunately, he didn’t have to carry too many bags, as he wasn’t really buying a lot of big and heavy stuff.

The next item on the list was socks. A lot of the current socks had started to wear out, and the holes were growing in size to the point of no return. There would be no repairing those socks. He had kept them because no one would be able to really see the holes anyways, but now it was getting annoying. Time for new ones.

The clothing store wasn’t too far away, so he was able to purchase a couple of pairs of socks within a couple of minutes. He took out his list again and mentally crossed out the socks. So far so good. He liked this shopping efficiency. Go in, buy the item, get out. No hassle, no wasting time looking at a ton of stuff he wasn’t going to purchase, no buying unnecessary stuff either.

The next item on the list was duct tape, and other standard issue adhesive tapes. He could probably find those in the “200ville” store, where most items were 200 PKD or less. … Or at least they used to be, many years ago. Now the prices reached up to 1000 PKD. Shame.

Pearl started to make his way towards the store, and as he passed the escalator leading downstairs, cast an absent-minded glance past the railing. He immediately did a double-take as he caught a glimpse of something familiar. Some _one_ familiar, to be more specific.

He scanned the floor below and a girl soon came to his attention. A soft white hat, long dark hair, black rimmed glasses, long red scarf, a Mega Ring, black stockings, and pink boots. … Undoubtedly, he was looking at Platinum Berlitz. … But here?

Pearl briefly wondered if he should go talk to her right now, or wait until he had bought everything from the list. He did a mental coin toss, and decided to go talk to her right now. After all, as he just realized, he hadn’t seen her in a surprisingly long time. Platinum had been busy with research, family duties, and even journeying across the other regions with the junior Dex Holders, such as White and Y. So the last time Pearl had seen her in person was _many_ months ago. And honestly, he missed her quite a lot.

Pearl took the escalator downstairs, while keeping an eye on Platinum. The heiress wasn’t looking in his direction, so she hadn’t spotted him. She looked a little preoccupied and even a bit overwhelmed. Pearl glanced all around the girl. Was she here with Diamond or someone else? He doubted that she would come here all by herself, but from the looks of it, she seemed to be all alone.

Pearl soon stepped off of the escalator and suddenly wondered how he should approach Platinum. She didn’t seem to be paying attention to her surroundings. So he could approach her from behind without being detected and then surprise her. Or he could simply call her as he got close.

As he approached, he could tell that Platinum was currently very uncomfortable, being around so many strangers who were constantly walking very close to her as they went about their business. So surprising her was likely to get a bad reaction, and not be appreciated as a joke. So he should just call her when he got close.

“Miss Lady?” Pearl called out once he was sufficiently close.

Platinum perked up at the familiar voice and call name and looked in the direction of the voice. It only took her a moment to spot her friend and immediately smiled brightly at him.

“Hello, Pearl,” she said happily as she walked towards him. “This is certainly a pleasant surprise. I did not expect to see you here. But I am very glad to see you again. It has been too long.”

Pearl smiled back. “Likewise, Miss Lady. It really has been too long.” He cast a glance around him again. “I really didn’t expect to see you. I mean, what brings the _heiress_ of the Berlitz Mansion to a _common_ shopping mall? And all by herself?” he asked jokingly.

Platinum smiled a bit at his question, and adjusted her tone to sound purposely very haughty as a response to Pearl’s joking tone. “I am here to purchase a snack for my Glaceon. There was a slight mishap and the maid who was sent to Veilstone City a few days ago failed to procure the snack. And _I_ am here in this _common_ shopping mall personally, as you put it, to better show my affection to my Pokémon and I wished to shop somewhere close.” She suddenly smiled rather slyly and tilted her head a bit. “And I am not exactly alone. I am not permitted to enter a populated public facility all alone. For security, there are two guards accompanying me, but from a distance for subtlety.” She leaned close towards him and whispered. “They are probably observing your every movement as we speak, trying to determine if you are a threat or not. Which means, if I were to act accordingly…”

Pearl gulped and glanced around, but slowly to avoid arousing suspicion. “Uh… are they the… Berlitz Mansion shadow guards you’ve told me about?”

Platinum giggled a bit. “Do not fear, Pearl. I was merely jesting. The shadow guards are not accompanying me here today. A few guards wished to follow, but I have convinced them to stay at the mansion. And by now, everyone in the mansion knows about you and Diamond and that you are trustworthy.”

Pearl let out a silent sigh of relief, and looked at Platinum in surprise, as he didn’t expect her to make a joke like this, that involved some aspect of her family/mansion, even purposely faking a haughty tone. He didn’t ever recall hearing her make a joke either, come to think of it. … Maybe that’s because he hadn’t talked to her in so long?

He cast a quick glance at her hands and noticed that she wasn’t carrying any shopping bags. So she hadn’t purchased what she was here for yet. … And looking at the store right next to her, she wasn’t in the right place either. Maybe she was just exploring around right now?

“So Miss Lady, did you buy the snack yet?” he asked, though he knew the answer.

Platinum shook her head. “No. I admit I am a little lost. I am not quite sure where I should go to purchase the snack. Could you assist me?”

“Sure thing.”

Pearl led Platinum towards the ground floor, towards the store that sold Pokémon snacks. But he chose a store that wasn’t too crowded, for Platinum’s sake. He groaned inwardly as Platinum did the exact opposite of his preferred shopping “style” of going in, making the purchase, and leaving. The heiress went into the store with him, and then proceeded to spend a tremendous amount of time examining various products and comparing every little detail between them. Then again, he knew that she liked to be thorough. And she certainly wouldn’t hold back in trying to show her affection to her new Pokémon.

Platinum suddenly looked up from reading the product information and glanced over at Pearl. Upon seeing his rather bored expression, she caught on that she was pretty much forcing him to waste time, accompanying her here and waiting for her. She quickly decided and made the purchase. She wasn’t sure if it was the best one for her Glaceon, but she probably shouldn’t be wasting any more time.

“I am so sorry for pulling you into this, Pearl,” she said with an apologetic smile. “But thank you so much for waiting and for your assistance. I greatly appreciate it.”

Pearl seemed to snap out of his thoughts and quickly managed his expression. “Oh, no problem, Miss Lady.” He checked his Pokétch for the time. “I think it’s time to go get lunch. I was going to get something to eat before going home. Want to join me?”

Platinum thought for a second. “The guards requested that I return as quickly as possible, but surely there is no harm for eating lunch with a friend?” She nodded and smiled. “I will gladly join you, Pearl. Thank you for the offer. Please lead the way. But where will we be eating?”

“Right here in the mall, of course,” Pearl said. “The food court!” He quickly realized that he should’ve offered to take her to a proper restaurant instead, given her status. Surely she thought that eating at a food court in a mall to be too… common?

Platinum slightly tilted her head. But to his surprise, she soon smiled and nodded. “I look forward to it. I have never been to one before, after all.”

…

Platinum looked at the array of “restaurants” lined up in the food court, momentarily confused at the setup. She had never been to a food court, or a fast food restaurant. And here in the food court were all sorts of fast food stalls. … There were no seats in the “restaurants” as well, and instead, there was a large seating area in the center of the court. Were the customers supposed to take their food and eat there? Interesting…

“So Miss Lady, what do you want to eat?” Pearl asked.

“… It is difficult to make a choice,” Platinum answered.

“Not the kind of places you’re used to, huh?”

Platinum smiled. “Yes… I suppose I will simply follow you, then.”

“All right.” Pearl scanned the restaurant options and was about to choose the cheapest one but stopped. … Platinum probably wouldn’t really appreciate a super cheap fast food place. So instead, Pearl opted for a slightly expensive place that was closer to the _proper_ restaurants that Platinum was used to.

As he waited in line, he was suddenly aware of how his decisions today were affected so much by Platinum’s presence, despite the fact that she didn’t say anything about them. Upon seeing her, he decided to abort his quick shopping and accompany her. Sure, it didn’t feel right to pretend to not have seen her or even leave her alone in a clearly uncomfortable position, but there was something more. He could have done his own shopping while Platinum was _meticulously_ looking at the product details for her Pokémon snack. But instead, he had chosen to stay in the shop with her, doing absolutely nothing while waiting for her. And now, here he was, waiting in line at a restaurant he had no intention of going to initially, because he felt that Platinum wouldn’t really like what he was originally going to pick. Platinum certainly had not asked him to accompany her. She had asked for help, but not for him to stay with her the whole time. And she certainly did not ask him to pick a place that she would like. … Interesting…

Before too long, Pearl was able to reach the cashier to make the order. Platinum stood next to him, still studying the menu portrayed above the cashier as she had been for the whole time she was waiting in line.

“Do you want something in particular?” Pearl asked.

Platinum shook her head. “No. I will simply follow your recommendations.”

“Okay. In that case, I think number 3 there would be good. What do you think?”

Platinum looked at the 3rd option displayed, and nodded. Pearl made the order and immediately grimaced a bit as he stared at the cost displayed on the cashier screen.

“Huh. I wasn’t expecting to spend this much. I don’t think I brought enough money with me,” Pearl said as he stared at the number. “Looks like I won’t be able to buy the rest of what I came here for today. Oh well.”

Platinum glanced at the display and smirked. “Hmph. Pocket change,” she said rather smugly. She frowned as she realized how _haughty_ she sounded and quickly thought about what she could say next to change the mood.

“I’m sure it is, Miss Lady,” Pearl agreed with a slight chuckle.

Platinum eased her expression and let out a short sigh. “Y has told me that I am actually lying whenever I say that.”

“Huh? How so?”

“She was intrigued by exactly how much I carried in my pockets, and has investigated. And she has concluded that I actually do not carry any change, thus by definition, I do not have pocket change.”

“… Huh. I guess that makes sense.”

Platinum slowly shook her head and reached into her bag to withdraw her wallet. “Anyways, it is my fault that you have insufficient funds to purchase all that you have come here for. As such, I will pay for this meal.”

“But that’s not necessary,” Pearl started, but Platinum simply smiled at him.

“And besides, this is the least I can do to repay you for your assistance and accompanying me today.”

Pearl felt a sheepish smile creeping up on his face. He scratched at his cheek and slowly nodded. ‘ _… She really changed a lot…_ ’

The two Dex Holders soon got their food and sat at an empty table so they could eat. While eating, Pearl occasionally glanced at Platinum’s expression to gauge her reaction to her food. She seemed to be genuinely enjoying it, even though its quality was probably _far_ lower than what she was accustomed to. And again, he found her reaction surprising. He had expected her to express disdain about the quality and the lack of service.

But so far, she hadn’t said or done anything that reminded him that she was a _spoiled_ heiress, like she was many years ago. Pearl smirked a bit. Maybe his view of her was greatly outdated and needed an update. Somewhere inside, he still considered her to be spoiled, and expected her to react as much. And clearly, that was no longer true.

…

After finishing their meal and talking for about half an hour, Platinum received a message from her mansion, requesting her presence as soon as possible. She lightly sighed at the message, but had no choice but to comply.

“I am afraid I will have to cut our time here short,” she said with an apologetic smile.

“Oh, it’s no problem,” Pearl said quickly.

Platinum smiled warmly. “I really had fun today, Pearl. I really enjoyed spending time with you. It has occurred to me that I have not seen you in recent months. I would greatly prefer seeing you much more frequently.”

Pearl smiled sheepishly. “Yeah. Me too. We should really do this kind of thing more often. If you have time, of course.”

Platinum’s expression brightened a bit. “I will be busy tomorrow, but I will be available the day after. If you are able, perhaps you can visit me?”

“I’d love to. And we’ll figure out what we want to do then.”

Platinum slightly tilted her head thoughtfully. “I do have an idea of what we can do together. But I will have to consider it more deeply. I will know for sure by the end of tomorrow.”

Soon, the two Dex Holders left the food court. Pearl still had more shopping he had to do, but he accompanied Platinum outside and watched as she sent out her Altaria and climbed on.

Platinum waved happily at him and he sheepishly waved back. The Altaria soon lifted off and flew towards Sandgem Town.

Pearl kept waving at Platinum and she waved back as she flew off into the distance. She soon became a tiny dot in the distance, but Pearl kept waving, as he suddenly felt a deep pang of longing. … He wanted to be with her longer. He wanted to see her more. He slowly lowered his arm and stared off into the direction she had gone.

… She kept lingering in his mind, though. The image of her beautiful smile stayed in his vision, and her cute giggles echoed around his ears. … Odd, since this never happened before. Pearl had known Platinum for 7 years now, and had seen her smile and heard her giggling a lot over the years. But his mind never lingered on them before.

… Maybe it was because when he first met her all those years ago, he found her very irritable. She was annoying at times, and very much so. It took weeks before she started warming up to him and Diamond, and be like an actual friend instead of some snobby heiress. And since then, she had become an irreplaceable friend who only had traces of her former self.

But for whatever reason today, the 19 year old heiress seemed like a completely different person in a wonderful way. She was gorgeous, kindhearted, very intelligent, and very…

Pearl blinked as he pondered about his last thought. … Well, to be fair, Platinum was _always_ gorgeous. But he never thought about it back then probably because of his initial dislike of her icy personality. Maybe he chose to put off all thoughts about her until she had warmed up enough and her apparent coldness disappeared. And over the years, as she warmed up and her heart defrosted, he sort of… forgot or didn’t notice because of her gradual transition.

And now, after months of absence, he was suddenly seeing Platinum for how she was now: completely defrosted. She had matured greatly, both physically and mentally. She was very gorgeous and attractive. And kindhearted and caring. And even more intelligent than ever. And all in all, she was…

“Perfect…” Pearl muttered with a faint smile. She was now perfect… for him. “I’ll see you again soon, Miss Lady. … _Real_ soon, I hope…”


	2. Contested Heart

Chapter 2: Contested Heart

Sandgem Town, Sinnoh, 4 pm…

Platinum let out a sigh of relief as she sat down on her comfortable chair in the Berlitz Mansion library.

After returning home from having lunch with Pearl, Platinum had to deal with the undesirable task of admonishing some of the servants and maids for their failures. She didn’t want to, but sometimes, their “stuffy” tendencies really got to her.

And now, having finished lecturing those who needed to be lectured, she was free to sit down in her private room in the library and resume reading.

Platinum closed her eyes for a bit as she leaned into her comfortable chair. Her Glaceon hopped onto her lap and lightly purred as its trainer’s hands gently stroke its back.

Nearing footsteps snapped Platinum out of her thoughts. She glanced over and saw a maid standing in the doorway, holding a tray that had a new pot of tea, a teacup, some snacks, a book, and the recently purchased snacks for the Glaceon.

The maid set the tray’s contents on the table and gave the heiress a polite bow before leaving. Platinum looked at the book and noticed that it was the final book of the 10-book series that had been omitted from her daily reading list.

Platinum nodded in approval and set the book on the bottom of the stack of books already on the table. She poured herself a cup of tea and took a sip before giving her Glaceon its snack.

For a few minutes, Platinum simply stared out through the windows while sipping her tea. She was going to resume reading, but right now, she was busy thinking about the time she had just spent with Pearl. It was unexpected, but had really lightened her mood. She had really enjoyed spending time with him, and wanted to spend more.

She had asked Pearl to visit her in a couple of days, so that they could spend the day together. Hmm… what could they do together?

Well, she did have an idea. The next time she went to Unova, she was going to try out the Pokémon Musical. And the next time she went to Hoenn, she was going to try challenging the Pokémon Contests. Both of those required her to coordinate her movements with her Pokémon while matching musical beats, like dancing. But it was an impossibly difficult task if she was incapable of dancing in the first place. And as she remembered, it just happened that Pearl was a very good dancer… Maybe he could teach her.

Platinum figured that it would be best if he taught her in a proper environment, so she would have to either reserve a ballroom in Hearthome City, or vacate the smaller ballroom here in her mansion. She would have to check the availability, though. And see if Pearl was willing to teach her how to dance.

She took out her Pokégear and sent him a message.

_“I have an idea for what we can do the day after tomorrow. I wish to learn how to dance. Would you be willing to teach me?”_

She then sent a message to one of her servants, asking him to check the reservation availability for Hearthome City’s ballroom. The servant sent the acknowledgement immediately.

Pearl didn’t respond quickly, however. Platinum figured that he was either on the move, or busy so he wasn’t checking his Pokégear at the moment. He’d probably respond after he returned home.

Platinum set her Pokégear on the table to the side and picked up the top book from the stack. She didn’t know when Pearl would respond, but staring at her Pokégear just waiting for the response seemed silly. So for now, she would resume her reading session.

…

Half an hour later, Platinum snapped out of her thoughts when her Pokégear chimed. She took a brief moment to escape her immersion into her book and reached for her device. She had expected Pearl to respond, but to her surprise, it wasn’t Pearl, but Diamond.

_“Hi, Lady. I just wanted to check if you were still available for tomorrow.”_

Platinum smiled brightly as she read the message. A few days ago, Diamond had asked her if she wanted to do something sometime this week. And having been rather lonely all by herself in the mansion, she had accepted. And tomorrow, Diamond would take her to Floaroma Town. She briefly wondered what he had in store for her, but regardless of what he had planned, she knew it was going to be a very happy and relaxing event. She took another sip of tea before sending her response.

_“Of course, Diamond. I have been greatly looking forward to it. At what time will you be arriving?”_

Platinum stared at her Pokégear until Diamond responded a few seconds later.

_“What time works best for you? I can go to your place whenever you’re available.”_

Platinum briefly thought about her schedule for tomorrow. Since she had been looking forward to spending time with her friend, she had frequently notified everyone within the mansion, thus she was completely free all day.

_“I am available for the whole day. If you wish, you may even visit early enough and enjoy breakfast with me before we leave for Floaroma Town. In fact, I do wish to treat you to breakfast. Can you visit around 7 am? Or is that too early?”_

_“If you’re okay with that, then sure. I’ll make sure to be there at 7 am. I’ll see you then!”_

_“Thank you. I look forward to seeing you.”_

Platinum smiled happily at the thought of spending a whole day with her close friend and sent a message to her butler Sebastian that Diamond would be coming over at 7 am and that she was going to be treating him to breakfast, so the chefs on breakfast duty should be properly prepared.

Once she got the acknowledgement message, she contently set her Pokégear down and resumed reading. She occasionally glanced over, surprised that Pearl hadn’t replied to her yet, but figured that he was busy doing something and let it slide.

…

Next day, 7 am…

…

Platinum leaned on the railing of the balcony of her bedroom, breathing in the fresh, cool morning air as she waited for Diamond to arrive. From the balcony, she could look in the direction of Twinleaf Town, so she scanned the skies in that direction for Diamond and his new aerial transport Pokémon.

Before long, a tiny speck in the distance grew larger, as the object came closer and closer. Platinum adjusted her glasses and shielded her eyes from the sunlight as she stared at the object, and soon recognized it as Diamond and his new Skarmory. Platinum smiled brightly and waved at him to catch his attention. Diamond saw the motion and upon spotting her, began to wave with both hands.

Diamond’s Skarmory began to land in front of the main gate of the Berlitz Mansion as Platinum proceeded to head downstairs. The two guards in front of the gate had already been told by Platinum to expect him, so Diamond was allowed to enter without hassle.

Once he reached the front door, the door opened before he could knock and Platinum appeared in the doorway.

“Good morning, Diamond,” she said with a bright smile. “I am so glad to see you again.”

“Good morning, Lady,” Diamond said with a smile of his own. “And likewise.”

Platinum stepped aside to let Diamond enter. “I apologize for asking you to come here so early. You usually wake up much later, no?”

Diamond chuckled. “Yeah. I usually wake up at 9 or 10. What about you, Lady? When do you usually wake up?”

“Ordinarily, I will wake up at 8. But today, I woke up early and asked you to come so early so that we may enjoy a leisurely breakfast together and still be able to spend all day in Floaroma Town.”

“The weather should be cooperating today, so we should have no problems.”

Platinum led Diamond towards the large feasting hall. “So what will we be doing in Floaroma Town?”

“I think we should start off with some strawberry picking,” Diamond suggested. “I know how much you like strawberries, and the berries should be perfectly ripe nowadays.”

Platinum clasped her hands together. “Oh, that sounds wonderful!”

“And after that, we’ll eat lunch in the flower fields of Floaroma Meadow. We’ll then cool off in the stream in Route 205 and after that, we’ll go to a really delicious restaurant in Jubilife before returning home.”

Platinum smiled happily. “You have certainly thought this through! I cannot wait!” She soon reached the feasting hall and approached the table for two, which happened to be the smallest table. It was still large enough that if she and Diamond sat down on the opposite sides, they could not physically reach each other no matter how hard they tried.

Diamond seemed to have noticed that as well, as he opted to sit just around the corner of the table from Platinum, instead of on the opposite side. A servant soon approached the two Dex Holders while pushing a small trolley that had several plates full of food.

“I hope you enjoy your meal, Diamond,” Platinum said with a smile. “I have notified the chefs to be extra diligent in preparation for your arrival.”

Diamond watched in awe at the delicacies being set on the table. For _breakfast_ , no less. “Wow, all these look amazing! Thank you for the meal!”

Platinum watched anxiously as Diamond took a bite. “How is it?” she asked, while examining his expression.

“This is delicious!” Diamond exclaimed. “Wow, I guess that’s the skill it takes to work in the Berlitz Mansion as a chef, huh?” He took another bite and savored the taste. “I’m going to have to try so much harder to even come close this level! I mean, if all of your meals are of this quality, then the stuff I make for you must be disappointing!”

Platinum’s eyes widened in surprise and she frantically shook her head. “N – No, that is not…” she stammered out, horrified that she had just inadvertently offended her friend and caused him to doubt his skills. She quickly tried to think of something to say, but failed. “I – I am so sorry,” she blurted out, unable to say anything else.

Diamond looked over at her in surprise. “Huh?” He then realized how he had worded his phrase and nodded. “Oh. No worries, Lady,” he said with a bright smile. “After all, the guys who work here are highly trained chefs who probably spent their whole lives honing their skills. Maybe one day I’ll become like them, but right now, of course the food they make are going to be better than what I make.”

Platinum let out the breath she had been holding, as she was greatly relieved that her friend was not offended. “Thank you, Diamond,” she said, returning his smile. “And no, I was never disappointed by what you made for me over the years. I greatly enjoyed them all. You are an excellent cook, Diamond. I have no doubt that you will be hired as a chef if you chose to work here.”

“Thank you, Lady. But I know I still have a long way to go. I’ll keep working on it, of course, and give you the best that I can make, if you’ll accept them.”

“I will never turn down your efforts, Diamond. Thank you so much.” Platinum let out another sigh of relief and began to eat her own breakfast while Diamond received a second plate of food.

For a while, the two Dex Holders enjoyed the breakfast and chatted. While talking, Diamond noticed that Platinum seemed unusually hasty, as she was very excited to go to Floaroma Town. The heiress had finished her breakfast and waited for him to finish, her impatience showing thanks to her constantly shifting her weight in her seat. Diamond simply smiled at her enthusiasm. He had never really seen her this _excited_ and impatient. He was certainly glad that he was able to make her this happy. And for the time being, all he could do was keep doing what he had been doing to keep her happy at all times.

Once the servant left with the empty plates, Platinum quickly rose to her feet.

“Well then, Diamond, shall we head to Floaroma Town? I am very eager to begin our day.”

“Certainly. Let’s get going!”

…

Floaroma Town, 10:30 am…

…

Platinum closely followed Diamond in between the rows of strawberry plants. She already had a berry-bucket full of deliciously ripe strawberries. And now, the two Dex Holders were going to fill up Diamond’s berry-bucket.

Diamond reached down towards a strawberry plant and examined a berry. Oh, this one looked absolutely flawless. It was pretty big, looking deliciously red and ripe, and it was even shaped perfectly too.

He reached over to grab the berry, but fearing that his fingers may harm the fruit, he grabbed the stem and severed it. He held the perfect strawberry in front of him, swirling it around slowly to see if it had any flaws anywhere that was initially hidden. … Nope. It was still flawless.

He carefully set the berry-bucket down and took out his water bottle. He lightly doused the berry in water to rinse it a bit, and satisfied with how the berry looked, he rose to his feet to face Platinum.

“Lady, look at this. Isn’t this just perfect?”

Platinum gasped as she saw the flawless strawberry dangling in front of her. “It is absolutely perfect! That is incredible!”

“Now say _ahh_ …”

“A – Are you sure?” Platinum asked. “It is your berry…”

“And I want to give it to you!” Diamond said with a grin.

Platinum nodded and sheepishly opened her mouth. Diamond put the strawberry in her mouth and held it in place for her to take a bite. As her mouth closed, her soft lips brushed his finger, making him shudder slightly. Platinum let out a breath as she savored the strong strawberry flavor. She swallowed the berry and opened her mouth again and received the rest of the berry.

“Mm… it was so delicious,” she said happily with a bright smile on her lips.

“I’m glad you liked it!”

“Now I _must_ return the favor,” Platinum said, looking through the berries in her berry-bucket. She soon found the most tasty looking one and rinsed it with water. “Here. Open your mouth, please.”

Diamond blushed a little but did as told. He opened his mouth and waited as Platinum put the strawberry in his mouth. He bit down on the berry and as he did so, his lips made brief contact with the girl’s delicate fingers. The strawberry was certainly good, but since he didn’t _absolutely love_ them like Platinum did, he didn’t feel nearly as ecstatic. But he pretended to be for her benefit.

Platinum giggled at his reaction, clearly unaware of the intimate action that she had just shared with him. She simply giggled at his comedic reaction, happy to know that he had enjoyed the strawberry.

…

Several hours later, Route 205, 4 pm…

…

Platinum watched as Diamond once again set up the picnic mat on the grass right in front of the small river. The river wasn’t that wide or deep, so if the two Dex Holders had brought along their swimsuit, they could easily jump in.

“Too bad we didn’t bring a swimsuit, or a spare set of clothes,” Diamond said. “But that doesn’t mean we can’t enjoy the cool refreshing water.” He sat down on the picnic mat and took off his shoes and socks. He then pulled his pant legs up and dipped his feet up to his calves in the cool river. “Ah, there we go. Come on, Lady. The water’s perfect!”

Platinum smiled and took off her pink boots before stepping onto the picnic mat and then removed her black stockings. She carefully stepped towards the edge of the mat and sat down and dipped her feet into the cold water.

“Yes, this feels wonderful,” she said happily.

“What better way to cool off on a hot summer day, huh?”

Platinum smiled jokingly. “Please. You do know who I am, right?” She reached into her bag and took out a Pokéball. She held it in her hand until it opened and her Glaceon popped out. “I do not require a cold stream to cool off on a hot summer day.”

Diamond laughed as the Glaceon began to emit its usual chill. “Right, right. How could I have forgotten. With your Glaceon and Ninetales, you can experience the coldness of winter whenever you want! … Oh, that’s right. I have something for your Glaceon!”

“Oh? Thank you very much, Diamond,” Platinum said as she gently pet the Glaceon on her lap. The Glaceon pretended to ignore Diamond while occasionally glancing in his direction to see what he was going to give it.

Diamond pulled out a small container from his bag and opened it. “I got a nice frosted snack for the frosty Glaceon!”

Diamond handed the container to Platinum, who picked up a small piece of frosted snack and held it in front of the Glaceon. The Glaceon glanced at the snack, pretended to hesitate before eating it, and then waited patiently for its trainer to give it more.

“Glaceon seems to really like it,” Platinum said as she fed it more. “Thank you very much.”

“I tried to keep it frosty by grating ice on top of it,” Diamond began jokingly. “But then it all melted in the fridge! So I had to resort to using bakery frosting. I have to stay frosty with the frosting, you know?”

Platinum held back a giggle and looked over at Diamond. She found it a bit surprising that he made a joke when Pearl wasn’t around, as usually, the two boys would practice comedy acts or jokes only when the other was also around. Platinum briefly contemplated on how she should react. … But seeing how Pearl wasn’t here, maybe it was time for her to do what she always wanted to try… She reached over and gave Diamond a soft whack on the head, on top of his hat to lessen the impact. Just like how Pearl would’ve done in the usual comedy act, just a lot lighter since she didn’t want to hurt him.

Diamond seemed very surprised at the sudden strike, as he wasn’t expecting it. Platinum had a jovial expression that quickly changed as she realized that her action didn’t get the right response out of him.

“I – I apologize if I hit you too hard,” she said quickly.

Diamond rubbed his head where he was struck (which didn’t hurt at all), and started to laugh. “Oh, Lady, that timing was great! For a second, I thought Pearl was here! And don’t worry, it didn’t hurt at all. After all, Pearl hits me a _lot_ harder, and has for many, many years!”

Platinum let out a sigh of relief and began to giggle as Diamond burst out into laughter again. She steadily stopped when she heard her Pokégear ringing all of a sudden. She reached into her bag to take out her Pokégear and noticed that it was Pearl calling.

“Oh? Speaking of Pearl, he is calling me,” she said before answering the call.

Diamond was momentarily surprised that Pearl had called Platinum, which was something he never did usually. He fell silent to avoid interrupting Platinum’s call, and proceeded to take out a snack for himself and began munching.

“Hello? Miss Lady?” came Pearl’s voice from the Pokégear.

“Oh hello, Pearl. I am glad you called,” Platinum answered brightly.

“I’m so sorry I didn’t respond to your message last night,” Pearl said apologetically. “I saw it this morning and I sent you a response. You didn’t respond so I figured you were busy, but…”

“Oh? You sent me a message this morning?” she asked in surprise. “I am so sorry. I was occupied for the whole day. I did not see it yet. … In that case, you can tell me now. Will you be able to teach me how to dance tomorrow?”

Diamond almost choked on his snack and quickly looked over at Platinum. … Pearl was going to teach her how to dance? … Alone? … Huh…

“Absolutely,” Pearl answered quickly. “But how are we going to do this?”

“Unfortunately, the ballroom in Hearthome City is unavailable for reservation, so we will have to use the small ballroom in my mansion. Do not worry. The ballroom will be vacated for us. We will be alone. And do not worry about wearing the proper attire. We will have a large selection available for us.”

“Oh. That’s great! So when do you want me to visit you?”

“How about at noon? That way, we will have plenty of time. And I would surmise that learning to dance is not something that can be done quickly. So after tomorrow, we will have to arrange for another lesson at a later date.”

“Sure thing, Miss Lady. I’ll see you at noon tomorrow!”

“Thank you very much, Pearl. I look forward to seeing you.”

Diamond winced as he realized how _painfully_ similar Platinum’s response to Pearl was to her response to _him_. … It meant that she still viewed him as a normal friend, just like how she viewed Pearl. And by the sounds of it, it appeared that Pearl was going to be spending a lot of time with Platinum all alone too. … And maybe even had already.

He started to get worried. … Was Pearl in love with Platinum as well? … Would Pearl have better luck with her than he did?

Diamond shook his head. … There was nothing to gain from a premature conclusion. … All he had to do was go to Pearl and talk to him. He was in love with Platinum. Surely Pearl would know that by now. And he was not going to give that up, ever. However, he was also not going to jeopardize the friendship he had with both of them. If Pearl agreed on that as well, then perhaps they could work things out. If not… … He’d rather not think about it.

“Oh, Diamond, is something wrong?” Platinum asked sweetly from the side.

Diamond quickly fixed his expression. “Huh? No, no. It’s nothing.” He cleared his throat and changed the topic. “So, Lady, you want to learn how to dance?”

Platinum nodded. “Yes. It is something I wished to learn for a while now. And Pearl is a good dancer, as we have seen. I believe it is better to ask a friend instead of hiring some professional.”

“True. But what made you want to learn how to dance? If you don’t mind me asking, of course.”

Platinum appeared a little embarrassed. “Well… One day, I wish to try out White’s Pokémon Musical. And the Pokémon Contests in Hoenn. And both require the trainer and the Pokémon to have mastered a certain rhythm, like dancing. However, I am not experienced in dancing, so I will face difficulties. I would like to learn to overcome those and be better prepared for the Contest and the Musical.”

“I’m sure you’ll do great, Lady,” Diamond said with a bright smile. “And when you do try out the Musical and the Hoenn Contests, could you let me know ahead of time? I would like to go with you and watch you so I can support you.”

“Of course, Diamond. It would help me immensely if you and Pearl were supporting me from the crowd,” Platinum said. “And just like the Contest in Hearthome City all those years ago, we will win together.”

‘ _Not quite what I had in mind…_ ’ “That we will.” Diamond glanced at his own Pokégear. “It’s starting to get close to dinner time. So let’s head to Jubilife City. There’s an _amazing_ restaurant there that you just have to try!”

“Oh, I cannot wait! Let us go right away then!”

…

Several hours later, Twinleaf Town, 8 pm…

…

Diamond hopped off of his Skarmory in front of Pearl’s house. Having accompanied Platinum back to her mansion and saying goodnight, he had to come here and talk to Pearl about his position with Platinum.

He knocked on the door and waited until Pearl appeared in the doorway.

“Hey, Dia. What’s up?” he asked, obviously surprised to see his best friend visit him in this hour.

“Hey, Pearl. Let me ask you something,” Diamond said, not really sure how to begin, or how his tone should be.

“Sure. What’s wrong?”

Diamond let out a sigh. “I… heard that you were going to teach the Lady how to dance tomorrow.”

Pearl’s eyes widened a bit. “Where’d you hear that?”

“I was right next to her when you called her,” Diamond answered. “She was with me the whole day.”

Pearl held his breath. ‘ _All day… like a date? … Wait… of course. Dia loves Miss Lady too…_ ’ “… Whole day, huh…”

Diamond studied his friend’s expression and knew that his suspicion was correct. … Pearl was in love with Platinum too…

“… You like her, don’t you?” Diamond asked calmly. “… You’re in love with her too.”

Pearl grimaced at the question, but knew it was inevitable. “… Yeah… I came to realize it yesterday when we were together in the mall in Jubilife.”

“And you know that I’ve loved her ever since I first saw her all those years ago,” Diamond said, still staying calm. “… So… what’s going to happen now? I came here because we _have_ to discuss this before things get any further. The Lady doesn’t seem to like one of us more than the other. I don’t think she’s aware that we love her too.”

Pearl let out a sigh. “That’s… a relief… I guess… If Miss Lady doesn’t know of this and has no preferences, then I think this becomes pretty clear. You love her. And I love her. So we’re just going to have to see which of us Miss Lady loves in return.”

“… And what happens then?” Diamond asked, as if worried about the answer.

Pearl quickly caught on. “Look, Dia… no, Diamond. I’ve known Miss Lady for… what, 7 years now? But we’ve been best buddies for as long as I can remember. And I think we both share the same feelings about this situation. While I love Miss Lady, I won’t let this ruin _us_. We’ve been best friends since forever, and damn it, we’ll stay that way forever.”

Diamond’s expression brightened significantly. “Good… I’ve been thinking the exact same thing, Pearl. We may both love the Lady and she will eventually choose one of us, but we can’t let this ruin our friendship. Also, can you imagine how much this would hurt the Lady if she found out that our friendship was ruined because of our crush on her? … I think we both love her far too much to let that happen.”

“Yeah. That we do. So for her sake and ours, we can’t let this change our friendship. And once Miss Lady makes her decision… whoever she didn’t choose will just have to accept it and congratulate the other.” Pearl’s expression turned rigid and he stared at his best friend. “But until then… I’ll be trying my absolute hardest. And I can only assume the same for you too.”

Diamond nodded with a firm expression of his own. He held out his hand. “We’ll try our absolute best. But we won’t interfere in each other. We won’t fight, and certainly not give the Lady the impression that we’re competing. Once the Lady makes her decision, we will respect her choice and accept it. Deal?”

Pearl shook his best friend’s hand. “Deal.”

“Thanks, Pearl. … And hey, good luck tomorrow,” Diamond said as he pulled his hand back. “The Lady’s been looking forward to it.”

“Thanks, Dia. And good luck with you too.”

Diamond nodded and soon turned away so that he could go home. The situation with Pearl was good. They both cared about Platinum and about each other too much to ruin their friendship, and had agreed to respect Platinum’s decision, whoever she may choose. And they even made the gentleman’s agreement to not interfere or sabotage in each other’s moments with her. So now all that was left was for the two boys to try their best.

… Speaking of which, since Platinum would be busy spending time with Pearl tomorrow, Diamond had to come up with a plan to spend all day with her again on the following day.


	3. Oblivious Heart

Chapter 3: Oblivious Heart

Next day, Sandgem Town, 11:55 am…

Pearl checked his Pokétch for the time again. Platinum had wanted to meet him at her place at noon. So Pearl had come to Sandgem Town half an hour early and had waited (impatiently) until he had 5 minutes left. Ordinarily, he would’ve tried to go see her immediately, but he figured that Platinum might be occupied with something if he visited her too early. And he didn’t want to interrupt her with anything.

Now that there were just 5 minutes left, Pearl left the small store that he was randomly wandering through and headed towards the massive Berlitz Mansion. The guards at the front gate welcomed him, as they had been notified ahead of time by Platinum.

Pearl adjusted his walking speed and waited a brief moment in the front door until the time read 12:00 exactly. He knocked on the door and a maid opened it and let him in. Pearl stepped in and glanced around. Platinum wasn’t here yet, so he chose to stand around and wait.

Meanwhile, Platinum looked at the time and realizing that it was almost time for Pearl to arrive, proceeded to head towards the front door to greet him. Her Pokégear suddenly chimed as it received a message, halting her in her steps. She took out her device and saw a message from Diamond.

_“Lady, are you free any time this week?”_

Platinum mentally considered her schedule, and sent him her response.

_“I will be occupied for the next two days, but after that, I am permitted to a vacation of two weeks.”_

She leaned against the wall and stared into her Pokégear, waiting for Diamond’s response.

_“In that case, when you’re available, would you like to go on a trip?”_

_“Oh? I am certainly interested. Where do you have in mind?”_

_“How about to your villa in the Resort Area? I think it would be really fun if we spent a few days there together.”_

_“That sounds wonderful and fun. I will certainly make arrangements and send a few maids and servants over.”_

_“Actually, I was thinking that it would be a lot more fun if it was just the two of us. That way we can go shopping together for supplies and make our own food together. What do you think?”_

Platinum’s lips parted open slightly as she considered a trip to her villa in Resort Area with Diamond, and spending several days with him. Just the two of them in the large villa, procuring and making their own food? … That certainly sounded _very_ fun… Come to think of it, she hadn’t really been to her villa much, so it definitely warranted a visit. There was also a private pool in the backyard, which would be useful in the hot weather. She smiled happily and sent Diamond her response.

_“That sounds really fun. Thank you so much for the offer. I will make sure that I am available for this trip, and I will make arrangements for the ship that will carry us to the Battle Zone.”_

Platinum soon put her Pokégear away and after a sigh of content, headed towards the front door. She soon arrived at the walkway overlooking the front entrance and was surprised to see Pearl already there, waiting for her. Platinum smiled brightly and waved at him before glancing at the clock. It was exactly noon.

“Ah, quite punctual!” she remarked as she walked down the set of stairs towards him. “Thank you for coming, Pearl.”

Pearl waved at her as well and returned her smile. “I got to Sandgem half an hour ago, but I didn’t know if you were busy, so I couldn’t come early. So the next best thing is to arrive on the dot. How are you, Miss Lady?”

“I am doing very well, thank you for asking,” Platinum said as she stood in front of him. “How are you, Pearl?”

“Likewise.” He looked into her pretty eyes and her beautifully bright expression and felt a blush creeping up to his face. He looked away a bit and feigned a cough to try to calm down. “So… uh… are you ready?”

“Yes! I have been looking forward to it. Please, follow me.”

Platinum began to lead Pearl towards the small ballroom deep within the mansion. Pearl felt his heart racing at the thought of basically having a private dance with Platinum, and he felt the urge to rush there to get it started as fast as possible. He couldn’t show his excitement like that, though, so he had to match Platinum’s walking speed. And she knew where this ballroom was, while he didn’t. He had to suppress his haste here…

“I thought about how I’m going to be able to teach you how to dance,” he said, trying to engage in a conversation so that his mind could focus and not let his imagination run amok.

“As I have said, I wish to learn how to dance in order to try out White’s Pokémon Musical and the Hoenn Pokémon Contests,” Platinum began. “Those two events require the trainer to be synchronized with their Pokémon in movement, and according to White and senior Ruby, matching our movements to the provided background music is important. Thus I have requested them to send me some background music songs that are used in the Musical and the Contests so we can practice using those. However, I would like to become familiar with dancing first, so I would like you to guide me. I will synchronize my movements with my Pokémon after I am familiar.”

Pearl gulped nervously as he thought about dancing with her while holding her hands. “I hope I do a good job,” he said with an embarrassed chuckle.

Platinum giggled a bit. “Do not worry, Pearl. I am sure you will do great.” She soon stopped walking and opened a set of large doors. “Here we are.”

Pearl let out a low whistle at the size of the ballroom. Then again, he supposed that this ballroom was for a _lot_ of distinguished guests in some Berlitz Mansion event, so it was designed to hold quite a few people and not feel crowded. He was sure that if he spoke loud enough, there will be a distinguishable echo.

“This place is… quite big,” he said, looking around the fancy ballroom.

“Yes. I do realize that this place is quite big for just two of us, but it cannot be helped this time.” She stopped in front of another door and opened it. “This is the men’s changing room, and you will find a wide variety of clothes to choose from in the selection room connected to the changing room. I will go into the women’s changing room to wear an appropriate dress for this. Please take your time.”

Pearl nodded and watched as Platinum headed into the women’s changing room. He took a series of breaths to calm down and went to see just how many clothes options he had to choose from.

And he found out pretty quickly that he had _far_ too many choices than he was comfortable with, as the clothes selection room seemed to be bigger than most clothing shops. Granted, a lot of the options didn’t fit him, as all the available sizes were gathered here.

For a while, Pearl simply stood overwhelmed. He _eventually_ managed to snap out and actively looked through the clothes. He honestly didn’t have a preference for style or color, so in the end, he opted to wear a matching set of suit that best resembled the set he wore during Platinum’s first Contest in Hearthome City all those years ago.

He went into the changing room to try on the suit and glanced at his reflection in the mirror. … Looking good? … He honestly didn’t really know. The suit looked very nice, sure, but… … Hmm… Ehn, he’d let Platinum decide.

Pearl stepped out into the ballroom and went to sit by the one table that was not stacked on top of one another. It seemed that Platinum had ordered the servants to leave just one table and two chairs ready for her and Pearl.

He put his hands on the table and let out an explosive sigh. This _anxiety_ was going to drive him insane. … If the men’s clothes selection room was that damn big and fancy, then just how gigantic and downright elegant was the women’s clothes selection? … Platinum was already beautiful, attractive, and downright _gorgeous_ on her own. If she showed up wearing an extra fancy dress for this dance…

He began to tap his hands on the table lightly, to help his hastiness. … And Platinum was taking a _lot_ of time, which wasn’t helping his anxiety.

His hands started to feel ice cold. Maybe it was partly because this ballroom had a strong air conditioning unit. He breathed into his hands to warm them up and resumed tapping on the table.

After what seemed like hours, Platinum finally stepped out of the changing room. Pearl almost jumped from his seat when the door opened, and his mouth fell open in awe.

Platinum had tied her hair into a ponytail with a white ribbon. She had opted to wear a stunningly elegant, beautiful white silk sleeveless dress and matching white evening gloves that reached past her elbows. She had also applied make up, it seems, as her naturally long eyelashes were accentuated and her lips were shining pinkish red from the lipstick and gloss.

As she approached, he noticed that her dress seemed to be sparkling, as light reflected off of particular surfaces at different angles. … And her dress neckline was noticeably lower than her usual clothes, but not too low either. The neckline was just low enough to make her look absolutely _captivating_ , and exposed _just_ enough of her…

“I am sorry to keep you waiting,” Platinum said, her cheeks slightly red, as if embarrassed. “Oh, you look wonderfully handsome,” she said, looking at her friend up and down. She recognized the suit’s resemblance and smiled. “Wonderful suit choice, I must say.”

Pearl snapped out of his stun and coughed. “Y – You look gorgeous, Miss Lady,” he stammered out, swallowing hard. “You… you look beautiful… in that… … N – Not that you’re not… uh…” He forced himself to stop, as he felt that he was tripping over his own words, and was probably making an ass of himself.

Platinum noticeably blushed and put a hand on top of her fully exposed collarbones. “Thank you, Pearl.” She glanced down and twisted her body just slightly and looked at her dress flowing from the movement. “I must admit, this is the first time I wear this dress. I have not custom ordered a personal dress for myself as I never had the reason or the occasion. And as I found out, the last one I have customized to suit me perfectly no longer fit me comfortably.”

“I – I’m sure that one would still fit you,” Pearl said quickly, afraid that she might ask him whether he thought she had gained weight. He knew that he would not know how to react properly and probably blurt out something dumb without thinking about it out of panic, and he wanted to avoid that.

“No. It is difficult to breathe in that dress,” Platinum answered, unaware of his torment. She put a hand over her chest and took a deep breath. “I am not experiencing such an issue in this one.”

Pearl’s breath got caught in his throat as he realized what she had meant… or at least alluded to. His eyes briefly flickered down but he stopped himself very quickly. _No_. He had just realized what kind of torture awaited him today. Platinum’s expression told him that she was completely unaware of what he was going through right now, and was just embarrassed for wearing a super fancy dress in front of her friend, as opposed to casual clothes as usual. And if he was going to dance with her, _alone_ , for hours…

Platinum walked towards the wall where a built-in audio system was accessible. She put in a memory storage device and navigated around with the controls. Soon, an exciting music began to play from the speakers attached to the walls of the ballroom. She listened to the Musical song provided by White and looked over at Pearl expectantly. He quickly got the hint and extended a hand towards her, palm-up.

“W – Well then… let’s get started?” he asked. He noticed that his hand was shaking and tried to keep it steady.

Platinum smiled and placed her hand softly on top of his. “Yes. Let us begin. Please lead.”

…

After a few hours of practicing dancing through a mix of Musical and Contest music, the two Dex Holders decided to take a break. The Musical songs were fast paced and exciting, while the Contest ones were more elegant and almost classical. Of course, that was probably because of the person who had selected those songs. White originally intended the Musical to be enjoyable and entertaining to all sorts of people, so would’ve opted for an exciting track to catch attention quickly. And Ruby naturally would’ve picked songs that would be heard in the Beauty category of the Contests, so something elegant and classical.

Still, the variety of song types allowed Pearl to dance with Platinum in various tempos, matching his motions with the beats of the songs while Platinum mimicked his movements. She was rusty at first, but she learned very quickly and was now matching his movements perfectly. She was clearly enjoying herself as well, as her motions changed from timid to confident.

And now that the last Musical song had finished, the two Dex Holders were going to take a break and then Platinum would select a different batch of songs that were sent by Ruby and White and the dancing lessons… er… _sessions_ would resume. Pearl didn’t know if this was really a lesson, since Platinum learned too quickly for this to really be a long lesson. At this point, they were basically dancing together for enjoyment.

Pearl let out a breath and sat down on a chair next to the table. Platinum paused the audio system and sat down on the other chair by the table as well, and wiped away the perspiration on her forehead. The two Dex Holders soon made eye contact and smiled. Platinum put a hand over her mouth and giggled innocently. Pearl felt his cheeks warming up significantly and averted his gaze, so that Platinum wouldn’t catch on to his blush.

Platinum lowered her hand and looked at Pearl intently, as if studying him. Pearl gulped and held his breath, wondering why she was looking at him like so. Whatever was bothering her, she seemed to have made a decision rather quickly.

The heiress slowly rose to her feet and walked over towards him. Pearl looked at her just as she suddenly leaned towards him, with her arms slowly wrapping around his neck. Pearl almost jumped in surprise, and a fierce blush crept up to his cheeks which he narrowly forced down.

Was Platinum giving him a hug? Or… was she going to kiss him?!

Pearl gulped as Platinum’s face came _dangerously_ close to his, her soft red lips mere inches away. He quickly raised his arms, ready to wrap them around her waist. His heart began to race. This was his moment. The moment he had been waiting for… _dreaming_ for, really. And he was going to make the most of it!

… But Pearl quickly realized that something was off. For one, Platinum was focusing on something past his face, and most importantly, she was not embracing him. Pearl now noticed that the heiress was simply fixing the collar of his suit, which had been bent and messed up during the dance.

Pearl mentally groaned and lowered his arms, feeling as if he had just been teased. He stifled his disappointment, berating himself for getting way too excited without warrant. … Maybe one day. … But today was not that day. And at the same time, he felt tremendous relief that he had not over-acted. If he had put an arm around her waist or kissed her soft lips… Boy, would that have been unbearably awkward.

He blinked and noticed just how _painfully_ close Platinum was. Her full, soft red lips were hovering mere centimeters away from his eyes, as if taunting him. The undoubtedly strawberry flavored lipstick and the gloss the heiress had applied made her lips seemingly sparkle in the room’s lighting, making them look _so_ tempting. Pearl had never felt the desire for strawberries as strong as right now. The sweet strawberry scented perfume didn’t help. If anything, it made his desires stronger. Her lips gently parted as she focused on fixing the collar, making it much harder for Pearl to resist the temptation.

He blinked again and realized that he had to look away. It’d be very weird if Platinum noticed that he was staring at her lips. He looked up, and saw the girl’s beautiful yet sometimes scary eyes. Due to the angle, her eyes seemed to sparkle in the room’s lights as well, and the sparkles were even seemingly magnified by her glasses.

For a moment, Pearl found himself staring into her deep, pretty eyes. Her deep yet bright eyes seemed to give an indicator of her intellect and wisdom, offering just a hint of her seemingly endless knowledge base. He could stare into her eyes all day, but knew that he had to look away. This was too dangerous. He was staring right into her eyes from mere inches away. She’d definitely notice if he was staring at her eyes for too long, and that would be very awkward.

Pearl looked down and away from her bright pretty eyes. And quickly realized that this was the worst possible decision. For this dance, Platinum had opted to wear a beautiful silky white dress, with a neckline low enough to expose just enough cleavage to make her look genuinely sexy and absolutely captivating without looking trashy. The previous dance was fast paced enough to make her perspire, and now here she was, leaning over towards him so that she could fix his collar, inadvertently exposing much more of her breasts to him.

Pearl felt his breath get caught in his throat and he simply stared, momentarily too surprised to react. From afar, he hadn’t noticed. But up this close, he realized that the silky white dress failed to conceal everything since it was so thin. Through the material, Pearl could see a faint but unmistakable outline of Platinum’s white bra. Pearl gulped as he saw Platinum’s soft, _moist_ breasts gently shaking as the girl’s arms moved. … This _tease_ was torture.

He had to look away, _now_. He could not imagine how Platinum would react if she noticed that he had been staring at her breasts. And he did not want to find out. She might blame herself for inadvertently putting him in this position and failing to notice it sooner. She could also become _very_ embarrassed and things would become quite awkward between them. … Or she could get her Ninetales to flash-freeze him out of embarrassment and anger. He didn’t want her blaming herself for something that wasn’t her fault. He did not want things to ever be awkward between them, and he certainly did not want to become a popsicle.

Pearl quickly looked over to the left now, away from the girl entirely. … And much to his chagrin, there was a large mirror on the wall, and he could see the reflection of his current situation. … Even the mirror was teasing him. A _mirror_. Was nothing sacred anymore?

He now had one direction left. He couldn’t look up diagonally, since that could give Platinum the impression that he was annoyed or impatient. He couldn’t look down diagonally, since that made him seem rather embarrassed or even ashamed. So he stared at the only safe direction, which was right. And there, he could see a blank, horribly boring wall.

Pearl let out a sigh of relief. He had never felt this good to look at an empty wall. His options were to either stare at Platinum’s perfectly soft _sparkling_ red lips, her deep beautiful eyes, her exposed breasts, a mirror reflecting this entire situation back at him as if laughing at him, or a blank wall. … He chose the wall. Good old wall. No one would judge him for staring at a wall.

Occasionally, Platinum’s delicate fingers covered in her soft silky evening gloves would brush past his skin while fixing the collar, which tingled his nerves. … Oh, this could not possibly be finished quickly enough.

After a grand total of 12 seconds that seemed like an hour, Platinum finished fixing the collar. She stood up straight and clasped her hands, happy to know that she had corrected the visible flaw in a striking suit.

She smiled at Pearl, but quickly noticed the unusual expression on his face.

“Oh? Pearl, is something wrong?” she asked sweetly. “You appear to be rather flustered.”

Pearl cleared his throat, using this time to quickly calm himself down. “Uh… no. I’m fine. Just… that last dance took more out of me than I thought.”

Platinum deemed the reason to be acceptable, and did not question further. “Ah, I see. Well, then, shall we continue?”

Pearl let out a quick sigh, and rose to his feet. “Yeah. Let’s do it.” ‘ _Miss Lady… you’re killing me! … And I’m okay with that…_ ’

…

Another few hours later, the two Dex Holders stopped dancing for the day, as dinner time was approaching. Pearl sat down on the chair again and took a moment to catch his breath while Platinum stopped the audio system. She wiped away the perspiration on her forehead again and sat on her chair again. This time, Pearl felt around his suit collar and found out that nothing was messed up. He briefly wondered if he should mess it up on purpose, but… Platinum might not bother fixing the collar this time, since he would be changing back to his normal clothes.

“Oh, Pearl, would you like to stay for dinner?” Platinum asked sweetly.

Pearl wanted to do that so badly. But unfortunately, since his father was going to be returning to the Battle Tower tomorrow, he was going to have a family dinner back at home that he should not be missing out.

“I’d love to, but unfortunately, I have dinner plans with my family,” Pearl said apologetically.

Platinum nodded. “I understand. It is very important too, after all.” She glanced at the clock on the ballroom wall and rose to her feet. “I suppose we should change back into our normal clothes.”

The two Dex Holders went into their separate changing rooms and changed back into their normal clothes. Pearl came back out first, and Platinum came out a couple of minutes later. She still had her make up on as she didn’t have the time to wipe them off.

“So… should we do this again soon?” Pearl asked as the two Dex Holders headed towards the main entrance of the mansion.

“Absolutely. I had so much fun today,” Platinum answered with a smile. “But unfortunately, I will be unavailable for the next week or so.”

“Oh. Anything interesting coming up?” Pearl asked again, trying to see if Diamond was going to be taking his “turn” now.

Platinum didn’t catch on but nodded. “Yes. Tomorrow, I will be assisting Moon with her research, which will require us to travel to Eterna Forest. The day after, White and Y are set to visit for a day before they head to Kanto. And after that, I will be going to the Resort Area with Diamond for a few days.”

Pearl was surprised to hear the last one. … Diamond was taking Platinum away somewhere for a few days? That… wasn’t fair! Diamond was _hogging_ Platinum all to himself, denying Pearl any opportunities to spend time with her! While the agreement was to not interfere or sabotage with each other, but Diamond physically preventing Pearl from getting close to Platinum for a few days was definitely a sabotage! How was it fair competition if Diamond denied Pearl his chances?

Pearl clenched his teeth and thought about his possible course of action. … If Diamond took Platinum away to the Resort Area, then Pearl would need an excuse to be in the Battle Zone in order to visit them. … He would have to visit his father in the Battle Tower, then. That way he’d have an excuse to be in that corner of Sinnoh…

“Wow, that sounds cool,” he said, feigning a bright tone. “Have fun, Miss Lady.”

“Thank you, Pearl,” Platinum said happily, failing to catch the faint hint of frustration in his voice. “I hope to be available when I return home from the Resort Area. I hope to see you then.”

‘ _I’ll see you before that,_ ’ Pearl thought to himself. “Sure! I’ll be waiting.”

The two soon reached the entrance and Pearl stepped out while Platinum stayed in the doorway.

“Thank you so much for today, Pearl. I really had fun,” Platinum said with a happy smile. “I hope we can do this again after I return.”

Pearl nodded. “I had a lot of fun today too. You’re really good at dancing, Miss Lady. Next time, we’ll try some more fun types of dances.”

“I look forward to it.”

Pearl briefly considered if he should try telling her his feelings for her. Or even just hinting a bit more about them. But given how Platinum hadn’t caught on still, he doubted that she would recognize the hints. Furthermore, this wasn’t the proper chance for a confession. He would have to aim for a better opportunity, whenever that would be. Instead, he simply waved at her goodbye and she waved back. And with that, Pearl headed back home to Twinleaf Town.

…

Later that night…

…

Pearl finally got to his bed to sleep for the night. It was earlier than normal for him to be sleeping, but today had been quite eventful and tiring.

He lied down and stretched his arms and legs wide and closed his eyes. And almost immediately, he felt as if his body disappeared and he drifted off into sleep.

_“Are you ready, Pearl?” came a sweet familiar voice from behind._

_Pearl opened his eyes and found himself in the ballroom of the Berlitz Mansion again. He turned around and saw Platinum smiling at him while wearing her elegant dress again._

_“Huh?”_

_Platinum walked towards him and quickly snatched his hands. “The dance!” she said, jumping in excitement. “I am so eager to begin!”_

_Pearl gulped as Platinum was right in front of him, jumping up and down. His eyes looked down and saw the… er… **motion** caused by her jumping up and down. Platinum didn’t catch on and the Musical song began playing._

_And before long, Pearl found himself dancing along with Platinum once more. But maybe it was because he was so tired, he was sloppy. He kept messing up his steps and stumbled frequently. As a result, he inevitably slipped on the surprisingly slippery floor and fell backwards, pulling Platinum down with him._

_Platinum fell on top of him hard, but he only felt a soft impact. She began to giggle happily while Pearl looked up to see if she was okay. Much to his surprise, he could see that she was basically lying face down on top of him, her breasts being pushed up by his body, while her dress neckline had been lowered some more thanks to the angle._

_And this time, Platinum did notice him staring at her exposed breasts. She stopped giggling and looked at him seriously._

_“Pearl,” she began in a calm tone. “I see you staring.”_

_Pearl gulped and looked up at her beautiful yet scary eyes. He tried to say something to explain, but Platinum pinched his mouth shut with her delicate fingers. She slightly wagged a finger in front of him while a mischievous grin formed on her soft red lips. And without warning, she suddenly leaned closer towards him and moved her lips towards his for a-_

Pearl jumped awake and sat up quick, panting for air. He put a hand over his mouth and felt all around him, and only felt his blankets and mattress. … It was all a dream.

He let out a long groan as he dropped back onto his pillow. … All a dream. … Damn it. Even in the dream, he couldn’t tell Platinum how he felt. And even in the dream, he was denied the taste of her soft red lips. … Someday, perhaps. … But not today, or in this dream.

Pearl sighed and closed his eyes to try to sleep again. … But all he could see was the Platinum from his dreams up close. Her full soft red lips, and her exposed breasts being pushed up by his body…

Pearl’s eyes snapped open and the image disappeared. After a sigh, he closed his eyes to sleep again, and the image came right back. He slowly sat back up and put his hands on his temples. … He was not going to be able to sleep at this rate. With a groan, he glanced at the clock. It was 11 pm. … This was going to be one _long_ night…


	4. Unclaimed Heart

Chapter 4: Unclaimed Heart

Next day, Eterna City, 11 am…

Platinum sighed in relief and got off of her Altaria next to the Pokémon Center. She gave it a gentle pet to thank it for the transporting her, and then returned it to its Pokéball. She briefly looked around, but didn’t see anyone she recognized, so she took out her Pokégear and sent Moon a message.

_“I am in front of the Pokémon Center. Where are you?”_

The response came a minute later.

_“I’ll be there shortly. I’m currently in the store.”_

Platinum put her Pokégear away and proceeded to walk towards the Pokémon Mart. Today, she was here in Eterna City to assist Moon with her research. The younger girl was researching the traits of a certain type of flora found exclusively in the Eterna Forest, and there were far too many specimens to observe for just one person.

This would take quite a lot of time, and would likely end up being rather… frustrating. But Platinum didn’t mind, as she would be spending some time with a junior Dex Holder. And besides, she was in quite the good mood these days, and nothing could ruin it.

She began to lightly hum one of the music tracks from the Pokémon Musical that she liked so much during the dance with Pearl yesterday. She recalled the dance session with Pearl, and remembered the particular motions during the track she was currently humming. She momentarily paused in her steps and mimicked the dance motion with her legs, and giggled as she recalled just how much fun she had yesterday. She wondered how she would incorporate the experience into her future Contest/Musical performance, but… she had plenty of time to figure that out.

“Lady!” came a familiar voice from ahead.

Platinum looked up and saw Moon running over. The heiress smiled brightly and stepped towards her. “Good morning, Moon,” she said once her junior was close enough. She looked up at the sky and tilted her head. “… Perhaps it is a bit too late to be morning, but oh well.”

Moon momentarily hesitated as she wondered how she would greet her senior. She soon bowed to her politely. “Good… morning to you too, Lady. And I am so sorry for requesting your assistance over something like this.”

Platinum lightly chuckled. “I do not mind. After all, I do enjoy spending time with my friends and juniors. Oh, speaking of which, White and Y will be stopping over here in Sinnoh tomorrow before their trip to Kanto. I would like you to be there with us for lunch and dinner.”

“… Me too?”

“Yes. I believe it would be more meaningful if you are there with us. And it would be more fun too.”

Moon slowly nodded. “Yes, Lady. I understand.”

Platinum clasped her hands together. “Splendid! I am sure you will have a wonderful time!” She glanced towards the direction of Eterna Forest. “Now then, shall we start?”

Moon watched her senior’s bright expression, noticing that the heiress seemed quite happy today. Usually, the heiress would smile and try to look bright and cheerful, but there would always be a slight hint of coldness somewhere in her complexion, as if she was forcing the cheerfulness. But this time, the heiress seemed to be genuinely happy.

Platinum proceeded to walk towards Eterna Forest, and Moon could hear her lightly humming a cheerful tune, which is something she never did before. And the heiress had even done a slight _dance_ before meeting up with her. Moon tilted her head, wondering what had happened that made Platinum this happy. She soon shook her head and smiled. It didn’t really matter _why_ the heiress was so happy. Just knowing that she was so happy was enough.

…

Next day, Canalave City, 10 am…

…

Platinum lightly hummed to herself as she took a sip of her favorite iced tea while sitting at a patio chair at a café near the Canalave City harbor. Moon sat on another chair on the other side of the small table, quietly staring at her cup of iced tea, occasionally glancing at her senior. The heiress still seemed to be really happy, even happier than yesterday. Perhaps this was because White and Y were set to arrive soon, and Platinum always got along well with those two, and thus was happy to see them again. But Moon didn’t recall seeing Platinum looking _this_ happy before, so… that didn’t seem to be the case.

“Ah, that must be the ship from Unova,” Platinum said abruptly, watching a ship slowly docking by the Canalave harbor. She checked her Pokétch and nodded. “It is right on time. Wonderful.”

Platinum and Moon finished their cups of iced tea and prepared to leave. As Platinum slowly walked towards the harbor, Moon opened up the parasol she had been carrying and rushed to stand next to her senior, shielding the heiress and herself from the strong sunlight.

Several minutes later, as the ship from Kalos appeared in the distance, White stepped out of the harbor. Upon spotting Platinum and Moon under the parasol, White gave them a wave and quickly made her way towards them.

“Hello, White,” Platinum greeted with a warm smile. “Good morning. Did you have a pleasant trip from Unova?”

White gave her a quick polite bow. “Good morning, Lady Platinum. And that I did. Unlike someone, I don’t get seasick all the time! Oh, what did you think of the Pokémon Musical tracks I sent?”

“They were wonderful selections,” Platinum said with a bright smile. “I loved them, and I am looking forward to doing a Musical trial in the near future. But I am not certain when that will be.”

“I’d love to help you with the trial. I guess it’d have to be after I return from Kanto?” White suggested. “I’m returning home in 5 days, so if you could come to Unova, we could do it then. I should have a day or two of free time before I get bogged down by business stuff.”

Platinum slightly shook her head. “I will most likely be in the Resort Area with Diamond for a week, so we will have to schedule the Musical trial for later, when you are available again.”

White raised an eyebrow. “Resort Area? Oh, you mean your villa? And with Diamond? For a week?”

“Yes. He has suggested that we go stay at the villa for a few days by ourselves. It will be like camping. We will also have to purchase and prepare our own food as well, and it will certainly be a new experience!” Platinum giggled a bit and clapped her hands together. “Oh, I cannot wait!”

“What will you be doing there, though? Purchasing food and preparing meals wouldn’t take all day,” Moon said.

Platinum briefly thought about what she had in her villa. “There is a swimming pool that we can certainly put to good use. There is also a hot tub for the much cooler nights. We can watch the sunset and sunrise if the weather cooperates. There is also a stargazing telescope that I had installed that we can use if the weather cooperates once again. We can train Pokémon together in the field, go tour around the Battle Zone, watch a movie on the widescreen television… there are so many activities!”

“All that with _just_ you and Diamond, huh?” White asked, slightly narrowing her eyes teasingly while grinning widely. “When do you leave for the Resort Area?”

“I will be heading there tomorrow,” Platinum answered.

“It certainly sounds… very fun,” Moon said with a nod, as she finally understood why Platinum was looking so happy lately.

“Would you like to join us?” Platinum asked. “It would be more fun with more people!”

Moon slowly shook her head. “No, Lady. That is okay.”

“Yeah, we can’t be _interfering_ you know,” White said with a short laugh.

“What do you mean, interfering?” Platinum asked, unaware of her junior’s implications.

“Oh, nothing,” White said teasingly. She glanced towards the harbor and saw the ship from Kalos docked. She let out a gasp and quickly turned to face Moon with a serious expression. “Oh, Moon, I have a favor to ask of you.”

“Hm? … Okay. What is it?” Moon asked, surprised by the sudden shift in expression and tone.

“Listen, Y is going to arrive in a bit, and she’s most likely going to be seasick. I want you to _check_ on her condition and give her something to _treat_ that sickness, but also tell her that she’s not allowed to eat anything for a few hours. That way, she’ll be forced to miss out on the undoubtedly amazing lunch in that restaurant Lady Platinum is going to take us.”

Moon looked over at Platinum, as if asking for permission. Platinum didn’t have any particular expression on her face, as she was wondering what White had meant by “interfering”, and was also distracted by the list of things she wanted to do with her friend at her villa.

“Why do you want me to do this, though?” Moon asked, looking at White again.

“I need my revenge. Y made fun of me _so_ much in that practice battle against Lady Platinum a few weeks ago. Now today, _I_ will be the one to mock her.”

Moon sighed but slowly nodded. “Very well, then.”

“… I do not condone this action,” Platinum said slowly. “But I will not stop you. I suppose this will make me an accomplice by inaction.” She smiled a little. “But I admit that this will be interesting…”

Now that she had _permission_ , Moon reached for her bag so that she could start mixing up the appropriate medicine.

Before too long, Y stepped out of the harbor, looking sick and tired as usual after taking a ferry. She spotted Platinum and the others pretty quickly, and with a forced bright expression, ran up towards them.

“Sorry I’m late,” she said as she came close.

“Good morning, Y,” Platinum said with a warm smile.

“Good morning, Miss Platinum,” Y said with a bow. “Hi, White, and Moon.”

White forced to suppress the grin that kept trying to surface and waved at her junior. “Hey, Y.”

“You look rather pale. Were you seasick again?” Platinum asked calmly.

Y dropped the façade. “… Yeah… I got real sick again. I’ll spare the details, but it wasn’t pretty.”

Moon leaned in close to Y, as if deeply studying her expression. Y backed away a bit from the sudden proximity, until Moon pulled back.

“You look like you’re still affected,” she said, rummaging through her bag. “At this rate, you’ll be feeling nauseous until tonight. I have something that’ll help you, though.”

“Really? Thanks!” Y said with a happy smile.

Moon soon pulled out a small bottle of sorts and unscrewed the cap. “Here. Drink up. It’s grape flavored.”

“Cool!” Y took the bottle and chugged its contents. The potion was a bit bitter, but did have a strong grape flavor to counter that bitterness.

“Oh, I forgot to mention,” Moon said casually. “After drinking that potion, you can’t eat any food for at least 4 hours. If you do consume any food in that time, the potion will react negatively, and you will feel quite sick for the rest of the day.”

Y’s eyes opened wide in shock and horror. “Wait, what?! But… Miss Platinum is going to take us all to lunch right now! And I’m… starving…”

“Oh, that’s a shame,” White said, trying real hard to stifle her laughter. “But I guess it’s for your better health, you know? Eating lunch while you’re still seasick might make you feel worse for an even longer amount of time!”

Platinum let out a short sigh. “I suppose it cannot be helped. But come along, let us head to the restaurant.”

“… Me too?” Y asked in disbelief of the situation. “… Why am I even…”

“Surely you do not intend to stay alone while the rest of us are eating lunch? Please join us so that we may at least stay together and converse,” Platinum said. “Now come along.”

…

The four girls followed the waiter as he led them towards the reserved table. White, Y, and Moon glanced around in awe at the sheer _fanciness_ of the place. It seemed that Platinum had deliberately reserved the most expensive table at the most expensive and exquisite restaurant in Canalave City. … And Y could not believe that she had to skip lunch in such a fancy place.

Platinum sat at one of the seats at the reserved table and the other three followed suit. White deliberately chose to sit next to Y, leaving Moon to sit next to Platinum. Platinum casually scanned through the provided menus while the other three gawked once again at the prices of the available options.

“Are you sure we can order anything, Lady?” Moon asked.

“Of course,” Platinum answered with a smile. “You may order whatever you wish, as many as you wish.”

“Oh, I have a thought,” White began. “… The guys aren’t here right now. So why don’t we just… let go, you know? Let’s eat to our absolute hearts’ content! Since it’s just us, we don’t have to worry about any sort of reputation or whatever!”

“An interesting proposition,” Platinum said, looking amused. “Very well, then.” She pressed the button on the table to call the waiter, and soon made her orders. “We will start with these three appetizers, and follow up with these three main courses. And we will also like these four side dishes as well. We will decide on the dessert later. And we will hold onto the menu for now, in the event that we will need to order something else.”

“Very well, miss. And what would you like to drink?” the waiter asked politely.

Platinum ordered a pot of tea, while White and Moon ordered some soda. The waiter wrote down the orders and soon looked at Y expectantly.

Y cursed under her breath and forced a smile. “I… I’ll just… have some water…”

The waiter acknowledged the orders and walked away. Y let out a long groan as White began to silently snicker.

“You made the right choice,” White said between snickers. “I heard the water here is _very_ good. One of the best in the world!”

Y glared at her with twitching eyes, but didn’t say anything. … She had a feeling that today was going to suck _hard_ …

…

The ordered main courses soon arrived. The waiter retrieved the empty plates of the appetizers consisting of various salads and set down the main course plates.

Y’s mouth dropped open as she saw the sheer amount of _delicious_ looking food. One of the plates was filled with fried meat that was tossed in sweet and spicy sauce that smelled absolutely delightful. She scent soon assailed her nostrils and she never felt so hungry before in her life.

“Oh my, everything looks amazing!” White said, looking at the plates laid out on the table.

“Then let us begin,” Platinum said with a happy smile. As per etiquette, the others waited for her to start eating first.

Once Platinum had taken her first bite, White dug into her food. She quickly picked up a piece of the fried meat in the sweet and spicy sauce and bit into the piece.

She immediately gasped and let out an exaggerated moan of delight. “Ohhh… That is _soooo_ good!” she squealed out, deliberately leaning and bumping into Y.

Y simply blinked and stared blankly at the plate. She swallowed the saliva gathering in her mouth in a loud gulp just as her stomach started to growl. Her hand automatically grabbed the chopsticks and slowly reached for a piece.

“Y,” Platinum began calmly. “Do you intend on disobeying the doctor’s orders?”

“… She’s no doctor though,” Y argued, a look of pain flashing across her face.

“She is the only one among us medically trained,” Platinum said. “She is the closest to a doctor among us. So you should listen to her suggestion.”

Y let out a long pained groan but soon set her chopsticks down on the table. She grabbed her cup of water and chugged it down. “… I guess I’ll just fill up on water…” she said almost in a sob. “… This is good water though… nice and cold…”

“Isn’t this great?” White asked happily as she enjoyed her food. “Look at us. We’re all gathered here, enjoying a wonderful meal together, and…” she trailed off as she glanced at Y. “Oh that’s right. Never mind.”

Y’s eyes twitched as she almost snarled at her senior. “You are a _monster_ ,” she growled out.

White simply giggled and stuck her tongue out at her and resumed enjoying her meal. Y soon got a refill for her water and chugged it again. She crunched on the ice, at least trying to pretend that she was eating something, before refilling her cup with the pitcher of water.

Within a few minutes, the bowl of the fried meat had just one piece left. Moon grabbed it with her chopsticks just as White grabbed it with hers. Instantly, their eyes met, neither willing to back down.

“… Let. Go,” Moon said darkly, narrowing her eyes.

White winced at the tone, but remembering that she was the senior and the older one, steeled herself. She wasn’t going to back down to a junior! “H – Hey, you already ate 9 pieces! I only had 7!”

White tried to pull the piece towards her plate and Moon momentarily lost grip. She quickly reached for it again, however, her chopsticks making clanging noises with White’s, as if they were dueling for the piece of fried meat. Y looked at the frenetic movements of the chopsticks, wishing that Moon would win.

The duel continued for a few seconds before their chopsticks locked in a stalemate. The two girls pulled back at the same time, and their chopsticks clashing in the process sent the piece of fried meat straight up into the air. White and Moon tracked the piece as it fell back down… and another pair of chopsticks snatched it midair. They gasped in horror and their eyes followed the piece as it went into an open mouth before quickly disappearing behind closed lips.

The two girls blinked and realized that they were looking at Platinum as she calmly chewed her food. With a groan, they both backed down.

“Please do not make a scene,” Platinum said calmly, despite looking amused, after swallowing her food.

“Lady Platinum, you had like 14 pieces,” White grumbled out.

Platinum smiled slyly. “Oh? Have I, now? Perhaps you need to be faster, White.”

White sighed, but soon grinned. “But at least I had _some_ , you know? Better than nothing!” She nudged Y with her elbow. “Isn’t that right?”

Y’s eyes twitched some more. “Why bring me into this? … Just leave me alone…” She poured herself another cup of water but simply stared at it. She already had like 6 cups of water, and now her body was rejecting it. With a groan, she fished out a chunk of ice with a spoon and began to munch on it.

White grinned some more as she _relished_ her junior’s miserable expression. Oh, this revenge was going well. But it wasn’t enough. No.

“Oh, Lady Platinum, can we order another plate of this?” she asked, pointing at the empty plate of the fried meat.

“If you wish, certainly!” Platinum said with a nod.

Y groaned at the thought of seeing more of the tasty dish without being able to taste it. … Better to focus on something else… She looked up from the table and at Platinum, once again noticing her extraordinarily bright expression.

“So… Miss Platinum… you seem particularly happy today. Did something good happen recently?”

“I suppose you could say that,” Platinum said with a smile. “I have had a lot of fun with Pearl and Diamond on consecutive days, and starting tomorrow, Diamond and I will be staying in my villa in Resort Area together for a few days, most likely at least for a week.”

“Oh, I see,” Y said with a nod. She began to grin teasingly and snickered a bit. “On a week-long _date_ , huh? I – Ow!” she yelped as both White and Moon promptly kicked her underneath the table. “What?!”

“Shut up, you idiot!” White whispered into her ear. “She thinks it’s just a friendly hangout!”

Platinum looked confused at Y’s remark, and slightly tilted her head. “… A date?” A _new_ thought briefly flashed across her mind, but she didn’t really focus on it. “Do not be silly, Y,” she said with a slight chuckle. “This will merely be a friendly trip!”

Y frowned a bit at her senior’s obliviousness, but Platinum didn’t notice as she simply resumed eating. Y rubbed her leg where she got kicked and nudged White. “Should we… _help_ out?” she whispered quietly.

White gave her a slight nod. “Yeah. Let’s see what we can do later today, and see if there’s anything we can do after this _friendly trip_ ends,” she whispered back.

Moon narrowed her eyes and promptly kicked both White and Y under the table at the same time, as she guessed what the two had just whispered about.

Platinum briefly looked over at White and Y, wondering why the two suddenly winced, but let it slide. ‘ _A date?_ ’ she thought as she focused on her food. She put another spoonful of rice into her mouth and contemplated on the concept as she chewed. ‘ _… But a date is between two lovers, not friends! … How silly. Diamond does not think of me that way!_ ’ She smiled as she found Y’s _misled beliefs_ to be rather amusing. ‘ _Diamond and I are simply friends! Same with Pearl, too. And I do not think of either of them in **that** way… … …_’

…

Many more dishes later, the lunch finished and Platinum led her three juniors towards Jubilife City.

“So now that we’re in Jubilife… we should go shopping!” White suggested, looking at the mall in the distance.

“I suppose we’ll need some stuff for our trip to Kanto,” Y said with a nod. “And I think buying some souvenir clothes wouldn’t be too bad.”

“Well if you two wish,” Platinum said as she turned towards the mall. “I suppose we never went shopping together either. Not with all four of us, anyways.”

The group soon arrived at the mall and White and Y charged inside. Platinum took a brief moment to look at the mall’s exterior, having been reminded of the time she met Pearl inside while shopping for Glaceon’s snack. She briefly wondered if she was going to get lost again, but figured that it would be okay with White and Y there with her… though those two have just charged in…

Platinum snapped out of her thoughts and hastily entered the mall before she could lose sight of White and Y. Moon followed from behind, staying close to keep her company, and also keeping an eye out for her.

The two visiting Dex Holders were staring at a digital map of the mall, scanning the list of shops in each floor, thinking of which stores to visit first.

“Hmm… I’m not familiar with any of these shop names,” White said, scratching at her cheek.

“Yeah. I can’t tell which one is the better clothing store,” Y said as well with a sigh. “Do you know, Miss Platinum?”

Platinum looked at the list of stores and shook her head. Of course, she had never gone clothes shopping on her own. And certainly not in a mall. The only clothing store she was familiar with was the exclusive one in Hearthome City that was only accessible to those who have made prior reservation for _the perfect_ fit.

Moon looked at the list as well, and shook her head too. … She had never really cared that much about clothes in the first place. As long as what she was wearing wasn’t damaged or too… uncomfortable for her preferences, she was fine, so she had never gone clothes shopping…

“Well then, this will be a new experience for all of us,” Platinum said, making her decision. She pointed at the closest store. “We will head there and see what awaits us!”

“… What do you intend on buying?” Moon asked with a frown.

“I… do not know. We will find out!” Platinum answered, as she began to walk towards the store.

“That’s the spirit!” White said as she followed. “… As long as my wallet says yes, anyways…”

“Let’s do it! But save some money for Kanto!” Y said as she excitedly ran after her two seniors.

Moon let out a long sigh. “… Seems like a waste, but… okay…”

“And we should take a look at swimsuits while we’re here,” White suggested. “Lady Platinum, you’ll be going to a swimming pool and a hot tub, after all!”

“… I suppose?”

“Yeah! Let’s get you a nice bikini instead of the usual swimsuit!” Y suggested with a laugh. “You need a new swimwear, after all!”

“I… do?”

Moon sighed again and glared at White and Y. … So it seemed that this was what they had whispered about in the restaurant. They were going to indirectly interfere with Platinum’s romance issue. The heiress herself was unfortunately clueless to the problem, and so White and Y were going to try to get the situation rolling from the other side. They’d _prompt_ Platinum to accentuate her natural attractiveness, and probably even tell her what to do together with Diamond to try to get him to initiate it. Platinum was already quite fond of him, so if she was to spend several days with him doing almost everything together, and even reacting a certain way, Diamond might be willing to initiate the conversation about a relationship…

Moon briefly considered in telling Platinum what was happening, but decided not to. With the heiress remaining oblivious to the situation, Moon would not accomplish much in trying to hint what White and Y were up to, and directly telling her everything would be far too embarrassing for everyone involved. And besides, this friendly little trip to the Resort Area was only with Diamond, and he wasn’t the type to really… react to such a prompt. He’d simply enjoy the time spent with Platinum, and make her really happy as usual. So nothing would be immediately happening as a result of White and Y’s _scheme_. So for now, Moon would simply stand back and watch what happens. This wasn’t her problem, and so she would not intervene unless Platinum herself asks for her opinion or assistance.

…

Meanwhile, Twinleaf Town…

…

Pearl picked up his Pokégear as it received a call from his dad. For a while, he listened to what his father had to say, and soon gave the acknowledgement and hung up.

Well, it seemed that his dear old dad had forgotten one of the binders full of documents for the Battle Tower that he was supposed to take with him when he returned to the Battle Frontier yesterday. And so now he had tasked Pearl to deliver him that binder as soon as possible.

Pearl put the Pokégear away and looked at the binder in his hands. … It worked as planned. His dad did not notice the missing binder until he had arrived at the Battle Frontier. And now Pearl had a perfectly valid excuse to go all the way to the Battle Zone tomorrow, and a viable excuse to knock on the door to Platinum’s villa. Diamond and Platinum would be going there tomorrow, so all he had to do was _visit_ them shortly after they arrive, in a _convenient_ coincidence that allowed him to stay with them for the duration of their trip. Diamond would not be having Platinum all to himself for the whole trip. No. That would be cheating.

Pearl opened his bag and put the _stolen_ binder inside so he wouldn’t forget. And then he proceeded to pack his bag full of things he’d need for the extended trip to the Battle Zone. He’d leave for the Battle Frontier early in the morning, so he’d get to bed early. … And he could not wait to leave. A chance to stay with Platinum very closely in the Resort Area? He could not afford to miss this opportunity.


	5. Contented Heart

Chapter 5: Contented Heart

Next day, Snowpoint City, 8 am…

Platinum slowly got off of her Altaria. Once her boots were planted firmly on the iced snow, she stretched her tired body and put a hand over her mouth as she let out a long yawn. Thanks to her excitement for this trip, she hadn’t been able to get a good night’s rest and had only managed to get an hour or two of sleep. And having to travel from Sandgem all the way to Snowpoint at early in the morning after the lack of sleep was enough to make her feel quite tired already.

She felt a pair of soft, cottony wings wrapping around her and saw her Altaria embracing her with its wings. She smiled and gave it a gentle pat.

“Thank you for all your help,” she said warmly. “You may have your much deserved rest now.”

She returned her Altaria into its Pokéball and took a deep breath. Snowpoint City in the middle of the summer didn’t seem _that_ much different compared to normal. There was still quite a bit of snow everywhere, though not reaching nearly as high as in the other seasons. It wasn’t snowing, and since the temperature was above freezing point, it wasn’t going to snow any time soon either. However, the temperatures at nighttime still dropped below freezing. So the snow that slowly melted during the day froze over at night, which effectively covered the entire surface with a thin layer of ice that hid the soft snow underneath.

Platinum looked down at the iced snow below her. She lifted a boot out of the hole she made in the ice and stepped elsewhere. For a brief moment, the ice seemed to withstand her weight and she was able to rest her foot. But as she put more force in order to take a step, the ice broke underneath and her boot fell into the pile of soft snow.

She looked around her for a bit before heading towards the Gym, purposely lifting her feet high above the ice before each step, so that she created perfect footstep marks on the iced snow. She had to be careful, too, as the jagged edges of the ice near the breaking points were _quite_ sharp, as she had found out the hard way that one time a few years back.

Diamond would be arriving in an hour or so, and together, they would take the ice breaker ferry to the Battle Zone. In normal circumstances, Platinum would’ve waited for Diamond at her mansion and then flew to Snowpoint City together. But today, she wanted to meet up with Candice to show her how her Glaceon was coming along, and spend some time chatting. She had already told Diamond about this last night, so he would not be stopping by her mansion and instead, head straight for Snowpoint City.

…

Platinum leaned against the wall of the Pokémon Center, while watching her Glaceon and Ninetales playing in the snow. Candice had suggested in letting her Ice type Pokémon get some playtime in snowy or icy environments, which wasn’t possible outside of Snowpoint City in non-winter seasons. So since she was in Snowpoint right now, Platinum figured that she could let her Pokémon have some fun while waiting for Diamond to arrive.

Platinum rubbed her arms a bit. It was starting to get cold, just standing in one place without moving, surrounded by snow. Since the Resort Area was quite hot in this time of year, the heiress hadn’t bothered to bring a coat. A mistake in hindsight, since she would be stopping at Snowpoint for a bit.

Fortunately, Diamond arrived pretty soon on his Skarmory, carrying a big backpack that was probably full of stuff that he would need for this trip. Platinum waved at him as he approached, and pushed off against the wall to greet him up close.

“Good morning, Diamond,” she said cheerfully once he landed.

“Good morning, Lady,” Diamond greeted her happily as well. “Were you waiting for long?”

“It was peaceful and very refreshing, so I do not mind.” She returned her Pokémon back into their Pokéballs and smiled. “But I am very excited to get going!”

“Yeah, me too!”

“So what shall we do when we arrive at the villa?” Platinum asked as she began to walk towards the harbor with him.

“We’ll unpack what we brought, and then go shop for groceries. We’ll need ingredients to make our lunch and dinner! You haven’t ever gone grocery shopping before, have you?”

Platinum shook her head. “No, I have not. I am very eager to experience it, and the joy of creating my own meals.”

“Oh, it’s _great_. Nothing feels quite as nice as enjoying a delicious meal that you created yourself!”

Platinum giggled in excitement at the thought and bounced up and down a little. “Oh, I cannot wait!”

…

A few hours later, Resort Area, 12 pm…

…

Platinum unlocked the door to her villa and stepped inside. The large villa was mostly empty as usual, ensuring that the occupants had _plenty_ of room. She had ensured to purchase all the necessary furniture and accessories to make it seem more homely, and so that any guest would be able to enjoy the visit.

“I had ordered some maids to clean this place,” she said as she observed the spotless decorations. “It appears that they have done their job quite thoroughly.”

Diamond let out a low whistle at all the furniture and decorations seemingly sparkling with sheen. “It sure does.”

“Please make yourself at home, Diamond,” Platinum said as she locked the front door.

Diamond walked around the villa’s first floor, looking for a possible place to put all his stuff and where he’d be sleeping for the night. The living room had a large television mounted on the wall next to the fireplace and a set of very comfortable looking couches in front of it, so camping there wasn’t an option since they’d be using that television and couch later on. Behind one of the couches was a section of a wall that served as a leaning point for the couch and also as a support pillar for the second floor. And behind that wall was empty space that served as a really wide hallway leading from the front door to the back door, so that would be ideal for the camping spot. Unless someone was in a real hurry to use the swimming pool in the back and made a beeline towards it from the front door, his sleeping bag and backpack wouldn’t be obstructing anyone.

While Diamond set up in the spot he picked, Platinum wandered around as well, thinking of future visits with other Dex Holders. She had always wanted to come here with White, Y, and Moon, sort of like a girl’s night, but so far hadn’t had the opportunity. Maybe in the fall? White and Y probably wouldn’t appreciate the harsher Sinnoh winters, so fall seemed like the best choice.

Platinum wandered towards the large grand piano in the corner of the living room. She had bought it on an impulse for decoration purposes. She didn’t know how to play it with any amount of proficiency, so it had been simply sitting there the whole time. Maybe one day someone very proficient would be able to play it and give it justice. … Come to think of it, she didn’t know anyone who could play it well. Surely someone among the Dex Holders is proficient?

“Okay, all set,” Diamond declared, having explored the kitchen area after setting up. “I looked at the refrigerator to see what was in it and there is nothing, so let’s go shopping! And that way, we can make lunch immediately!”

…

Platinum looked around the large grocery store in awe while following Diamond pretty closely as to not get lost. There were so many people here, it reminded her of her time in the mall in Jubilife City. Except instead of Pearl, she was with Diamond. And being close to her friend greatly comforted her among all these strangers in such a close proximity.

Diamond parked the shopping cart next to the fresh meat counter and picked up a few packs after careful examination. He then went over towards the fresh produce section to pick up a lot of fruits and vegetables. Platinum examined the array of produce on display, focusing on all the items that she had never seen before.

“This is what spinach looks like before being prepared? Interesting,” she muttered as she stared at the surprisingly large vegetable.

“Yeah. And preparing those things take a lot of time,” Diamond said. He moved away from the produce section and picked up some large radish. “Okay, with these, we can make some delicious soup for lunch and dinner. … Probably dinner, given how long it takes.”

“What will we be making for lunch?” Platinum asked, starting to get quite hungry as she stared at a pack of strawberries on the produce counter.

“I’m thinking some nice homemade burgers,” Diamond said, checking over the stuff in the cart. He then saw what Platinum was looking at and smiled. “Oh, that’s right. How could I forget.” He examined the packs of strawberries and picked the best ones. “Your dessert, Lady!”

Platinum smiled brightly and clasped her hands together. “Thank you!”

“So today’s lunch would be homemade burgers. Today’s dinner would be a beef radish soup, with a strawberry pie for dessert.”

“Sounds wonderful!”

The two Dex Holders finished the grocery shopping after making a _few_ more stops at various aisles. There was quite a lot of stuff in the cart, but given _Diamond_ , it made sense. Platinum paid for the groceries and stared at the sheer number of shopping bags, wondering how they would even take all these back to the villa. But outside the store, Diamond sent out his Torterra and began to hang the grocery bags on its branches on the back until there were only a couple left. Diamond took the heavier bag for himself while Platinum took the lighter one.

“Are you hungry, Lady?” Diamond asked on the way back to the villa.

“Yes. I am quite famished,” Platinum answered.

“Yeah. Me too. Fortunately, lunch won’t take long. Especially if we make it together.”

Upon arriving back at the villa, the two Dex Holders spent a few minutes storing the groceries in the refrigerator, except those that wasn’t supposed to be stored there, or were going to be used immediately. Afterwards, the two took turns to wash their hands in the washroom before preparing lunch.

By the time Platinum came back out of the washroom after tying her hair into a ponytail and thoroughly washing her hands, Diamond had put a large pot on top of the stove and had the necessary ingredients piled up in the sink for rinsing.

“I am ready to assist, Diamond,” Platinum said as she jogged up to him.

“Okay. I’ll be slicing the onions for lunch preparation. Lady, can you rinse the radish, please?”

“Certainly!”

“Let me know when you’re done.”

Platinum rushed over towards the sink and saw the big radish with quite a lot of dirt stuck on its side. Since radish was a root vegetable, that made sense. She turned on the sink water and began to rinse the vegetable in cold water that seemed a bit _too_ cold. She had to turn on the hot water a bit when her hands started to move slowly from being chilled too much.

She soon finished rinsing the radish and looked over at Diamond to receive the next set of instructions. And much to her surprise, she could see tears welling in his eyes, and his eyes were quite red as well.

“Diamond? Are you okay?” Platinum asked quickly.

Diamond blinked and frowned, as if he was trying to suppress his emotions. “I was just thinking about what happened in the latest episode of my favorite show,” he said, his voice shaking. He saw her tilting her head in confusion and gave her a bright smile. “I’m just kidding. This tends to happen when you cut onions.”

“Ah, I see. You had me concerned for a moment.” She let out a short sigh and smiled at him. “I am ready for the next step.”

“Okay. I’ll now handle cutting the radish. Because of its weight and how hard it is, it’s quite dangerous for the inexperienced. So can you finish up cutting the onions?”

“Certainly.”

Platinum swapped places with Diamond to let him handle the radish and she proceeded to pick up where he left off with the onions. She took extra precaution to avoid hurting herself while slicing the slippery onions, while doing her best to match the sizes of the slices. As she did so, she could feel her eyes beginning to sting quite badly as the chemicals released by the sliced onions affected her.

“Lady? Are you okay?” Diamond asked, matching the same worried tone as hers from before.

Platinum quickly caught on and let out a sob. “I was reminiscing the final scene in the latest Pokéstar Studios drama episode. It was very heart wrenching…” She let out a shuddering sigh and smiled once more. “… My eyes are stinging quite so. I would like to wipe them, but I must wait until this is finished.”

“Yeah. If you rub your eyes while you got some onion sap on your fingers, it’ll hurt a hundred times more. Let me know if it gets to be too much and I’ll see what I can do to help.”

Diamond cut the radish into small bite-sized pieces and set them aside while he lightly cooked the beef chunks in the large pot. Once the beef was cooked enough, he put the radish chunks in and began to stir.

“D – Diamond, I need help,” Platinum said abruptly from behind.

Diamond quickly turned to face her and could see that she had stopped all motion and had her eyes clenched shut. “What’s wrong?”

“My eyes hurt too much. I really need to wash them,” Platinum said, squirming on her feet.

“Okay. Hold on.” Diamond quickly turned on the sink and guided Platinum towards it so that she could wash her hands first. He took off her glasses for her, allowing her to finally rinse her eyes and stop the stinging. “Are you okay?” he asked, offering her a paper towel.

Platinum took the towel and dabbed at her eyes. “Yes… thank you so much for your help.” She blinked a few times and put her glasses back on. “Cooking with onions is quite _irritating_ , is it not?”

Diamond smiled at the pun and nodded. “Yep. It sure is. But since onions are a necessity in so many dishes, it’s important! Oh, and now that you’ve finished with the onions, can you rinse the tomatoes and slice them as well?”

“Certainly.” She glanced at the large pot and sniffed at the air. “Mmm, it smells delicious! But… is that not supposed to be our dinner?”

“Yeah. But it’ll need to boil for at least half an hour, but the longer it boils, the better the soup tastes, so we’ll leave it for a few hours and enjoy it later.”

“Ah, I see.”

“Speaking of which…” Diamond stirred the contents in the pot again and poured a large bowl full of water. “There. Now we can let it boil for a while. And now I’ll get started on the burgers!”

…

An hour later, the two Dex Holders finished with their delightfully delicious lunch. Platinum sighed contently as she leaned back against her chair. Despite not using a grill, Diamond had still cooked the meat to perfection. The onion slices were roasted perfectly as well, so that they retained their taste and texture without leaving any of the after taste. And combined with melted cheddar and fresh lettuce and tomatoes and the desired condiments, the burger tasted so good that the heiress had gotten another half of a burger after finishing her first. In the time it took her to enjoy one and a half burgers, Diamond had finished up four and a half, thus finishing all six that were made.

“The burgers were absolutely perfect, Diamond,” Platinum said happily.

“Thank you, Lady. And see? It tastes better if you make it yourself!”

“Yes. And this has already been quite the fun experience. I am looking forward to making more delicious food together!”

“Do you have plans for any activities for today?” Diamond asked.

“No. I had intended to spend the first day doing what you wanted to do. Do you have any plans?”

“Let’s watch some of the movies I brought,” Diamond suggested.

“Are they all from your…”

“No, no. I brought a wide variety!”

“Splendid! Then please set up the movies. I shall clean the dishes and prepare some fruits.”

By the time Platinum returned, carrying a large plate filled with assorted fruits, Diamond had figured out how to connect the media player to the giant television and had paused a second into the movie, waiting for her to return. And once the heiress sat next to him on the comfortable couch, he resumed the video.

Platinum picked up a tasty looking strawberry and bit into it as she watched, wondering what type of movie this was. She didn’t particularly have any preference, but was leaning slightly towards a romantic type, like the drama that White had introduced to her. Turned out, this film was more of a generic action type, which was fine too.

Once the movie ended, the two Dex Holders took turns watching videos from the internet, with Diamond showing her various hilarious comedy acts and stories, while Platinum showed him a variety of amazing scientific discoveries. And eventually, it became time for dinner.

“The rice is almost done,” Diamond said after glancing at the rice cooker. “And the soup is perfectly ready. So by the time I get some more side dishes done, we’ll be able to eat.”

“Wonderful,” Platinum said happily. She was about to say something when her Pokédex suddenly began to resonate in that familiar chime that she hadn’t heard in a long time. “The morning sound…” she mumbled as she went to retrieve her Pokédex from her bag. “Wait, that means…”

Diamond stood frozen in the kitchen as he knew exactly what this meant. And now the question was _why_. ‘ _Pearl… what the hell?_ ’

The doorbell chimed and Platinum excitedly ran to open the door. And sure enough, Pearl was standing in the doorway, waiting.

“Pearl! Welcome!” Platinum greeted with a big smile. “This is a pleasant surprise!”

“Hi, Miss Lady! Good to see you again!” Pearl said with an embarrassed smile.

“Hey, Pearl,” Diamond said with an edge in his voice as he walked over as well. “What brings you all the way out here?”

Pearl clenched his jaws a bit but kept his happy expression since Platinum was looking right at him and would notice if his expression changed too much. “My good old dad forgot some important documents for the Battle Tower so I had to come by to deliver it. And I figured, since I came all the way over here, I stop by to see what my two friends were up to.”

“It is so good to see you,” Platinum said as she stepped aside. “Please, come in. We were just about to have dinner. Please join us.”

Pearl glanced at Diamond to see his expression, but stepped inside anyways. “Thank you, Miss Lady. I’d love to.”

“You sure brought a lot of stuff with you for just a delivery,” Diamond noted, looking at the large backpack on Pearl’s back, as if he was also carrying his sleeping bag case and a lot of spare clothes.

“I had intended to stay at the Battle Tower for a few days,” Pearl explained.

“Oh, if that is the case, why not stay here with us?” Platinum asked, unaware of how much she was hurting Diamond.

“I’d really like that. Thank you, Miss Lady,” Pearl said before Diamond could interject.

“Wonderful! This will be so much fun!”

Diamond didn’t say anything and simply turned away, heading back towards the kitchen. With a long sigh, he began the final dinner preparations for _three_ now, while Platinum gave Pearl the tour of the villa.

“I believe Diamond intends to sleep down here,” Platinum said, seeing the boy’s sleeping bag on the floor. “I suppose it is my fault that we do not have guest rooms in the villa yet. I shall see to it that we have several constructed for next time.”

“I guess I’ll be sleeping down here too,” Pearl said, setting his stuff on the floor. ‘ _And I’ll have a lot of stuff to discuss with Dia tonight…_ ’

“Now that you are here, we have to think of an activity after dinner,” Platinum said. “If I recall… summer nights are the perfect time for a horror movie.”

“Oh no, no,” Pearl said quickly. “No need for that.”

“Why not?”

“Because you are immune to horror, we are not,” he said. “It’s not fun if we aren’t all suffering together.”

Platinum gave him a sly grin. “But that is what makes it fun for me.”

“Nope. That’s not happening. Sorry, Miss Lady. Instead, let’s try watching some fun stuff.”

“Oh, very well. But come, let us enjoy the wonderful dinner!”

…

Few hours later…

…

“Will you two be okay sleeping down here?” Platinum asked, tilting her head as Diamond and Pearl entered their sleeping bags on the floor.

“Yeah. No worries, Miss Lady,” Pearl said with a smile. “It’s your villa, after all, so you should obviously get the bedroom.”

“We’ll be okay, Lady,” Diamond said as well.

Platinum nodded and smiled at her two friends. “Okay then. Good night, you two.”

“Good night.”

Platinum waved at her two friends and headed upstairs towards the bedroom. The moment she was out of hearing range, Diamond sat up and faced Pearl.

“So… what are you doing here?” he asked, his tone dead serious.

“Enjoying some time with friends. What do you think?” Pearl retorted.

“Don’t you remember our agreement?”

“I can ask you the same thing,” Pearl said, sitting up as well.

“ _You’re_ the one interfering here,” Diamond said, narrowing his eyes. “This was supposed to be a private vacation for two, and here you are, an uninvited guest who’s sticking around.”

“You took Miss Lady out here so that you could stay alone with her for a whole week. It can’t be any clearer that you’re trying to deny my turn with her,” Pearl argued.

“I’ve been planning this for months now, _way_ before you had a crush on her. I only had to wait because the Lady had been very busy and so couldn’t spare the time. Not to mention, we’ve been doing this kind of thing for a few years now, where we go together somewhere for several days at a time, usually me just accompanying her to another region. So I’m just doing what I have been doing since before, and you are interfering.”

“Well that’s too bad. You’re not going to have her all to yourself for a whole week. You had her alone for the day, so your turn is over.”

Diamond clenched his teeth. “… So that’s how it’s going to be, huh?”

…

Meanwhile, Platinum closed the bedroom door behind her and walked towards her bed while humming happily. She took out her neatly folded nightgown and set it aside. But as she was closing her bag, she spotted something that made her open it wide again. She stared at it in her bag for a few seconds before making her decision. After ensuring that the door was closed and the curtains were down, she proceeded to take off all of her clothes. She then pulled out the red bikini that Y had bought for her (without her consent) and began to put it on, as she wanted to see how she’d even look in such a thing before maybe being forced to use it tomorrow.

The bottom part was pretty straight forward, but the top… did she really have to _tie_ the straps behind her back? That was such a hassle… And she even had to tie the straps behind her neck too? And these string-straps were so thin and… upon coming in contact with water, the knots she made would be much easier to come apart… Maybe she’d tie the straps into an X-shape and knot everything together? … But then taking the thing off would be a giant hassle…

Platinum finally finished tying all the straps and looked at her reflection in the full length mirror, turning this way and that. Ehhh… was the bikini really… _necessary_? She might as well be just wearing her undergarments at this rate. At least those don’t have the risk of coming undone… And she had brought her previously used swimsuit for this occasion as well, so it wasn’t like she didn’t have any options. But her precious junior had bought the bikini for her. Could she really just ignore her like this?

Platinum sighed and took out a coin from her bag, the leftover change from the purchase at the market earlier. She never really did this kind of thing before, but apparently people often left these kinds of things to chance, judged by tossing of a coin. Come to think of it, the Pokétch also had such a function, which she didn’t bother installing since she didn’t see the point. She held the shiny golden coin in between her fingers and glanced at both faces.

“Heads, bikini. Tails, swimsuit,” she muttered as she positioned the coin in her hand. After a few seconds, she flicked the coin upwards, with enough force to make it _almost_ touch the ceiling. She let the coin fall to the floor so that she didn’t have any say in the judgment. Otherwise, she would end up using the ‘slot machine’ ability and snatch the coin at a specific moment to get what she wanted, which introduced _bias_. So she simply let the coin fall to decide for her. The coin hit the floor with a clatter and began to spin on its side… and suddenly came to a halt, standing on its side. “… What?” The heiress crouched to examine what just happened, and noticed that the coin was half buried into the floor. Apparently, there was a tiny gap between the wooden tiles where the grout had deteriorated. And miraculously, the coin had slotted itself right in that gap while spinning around on the floor, and so the result was neither heads nor tails. “… Huh. Interesting,” Platinum muttered with a frown, crossing her arms. “… Now what?”

… It appeared that the coin had failed to decide for her. She’d have to make the decision herself, and probably right before stepping into the pool. With a long sigh, Platinum proceeded to take off the bikini after wrestling with the knots behind her back and fully dressed herself in her nightgown.

But before she slipped into the blankets, she suddenly felt the urge to check up on her friends to see how they were doing in their sleeping bags on the _floor_. She didn’t know why the thought hadn’t crossed her mind before, that her villa didn’t have guest rooms. And because she failed to remember and accommodate accordingly, her two friends were now forced to sleep on the floor. She made a mental note to order construction of several guest rooms when she returned to Sandgem, so that she could come back here with her seniors and juniors without having anyone sleep on the floor.

Platinum quietly opened the door and tiptoed towards the stairs. She paused before going downstairs to see if she could hear their snoring. But to her surprise, she could hear… _arguing_. … Were they practicing or discussing a comedy act? Given what Pearl usually did in those acts, him arguing would make sense. But no. Platinum could hear Diamond’s voice as well. And he was arguing back. … And he never argued back. This was serious.

The two boys were keeping their voices down so Platinum couldn’t understand what they were saying. … What was going on? … Should she intervene? Or was this none of her business? She pressed her hands over her heart, suddenly feeling as if something terrible was happening, but unsure what. All she knew was that hearing her two friends fighting was hurting her deeply.

‘ _I do not want my friends to fight,_ ’ she thought as she hesitated on what to do. ‘ _But I do not wish to intervene in something that does not involve me. I do not wish to eavesdrop on my friends either, so there is no way for me to know what is happening right now… What should I do?_ ’ As she remained hesitant, the argument downstairs seemed to have ceased, as both sides stopped talking at the same time. Did they realize that she was there? Or did the argument simply end? ‘ _It does not sound as if their argument will escalate any further. … I should not involve myself tonight and let this settle for now. … I will have to ask them about this tomorrow. … I hope that it is nothing serious…_ ’


	6. Conflicted Heart

Chapter 6: Conflicted Heart

Next day, Resort Area, 8 am…

Platinum woke up from her sleep and stretched her legs before sitting up. She shut off her alarm and crawled out of the bed. She parted the curtains and opened the windows so that she could breathe in the fresh morning air. For a while, she stared out blankly into the peaceful Resort Area, steadily overcoming the sleepiness and remembering why she was here and not in her mansion.

She soon remembered that she was here with her friends Diamond and Pearl for a bit of a vacation. Originally, it was supposed to be just her and Diamond, but Pearl showed up later on, and… she overhead Diamond and Pearl arguing about something at night.

Platinum headed into the washroom to get ready for the day. And as she did so, she contemplated on how she was going to approach the issue. Should she ask them about it directly? Or should she just observe for a hint of irregularity in her friends’ behaviors? If Diamond and Pearl were completely normal in how they talked, then their argument last night would most likely be something trivial. But if they were being strange, then it meant that their argument was pretty serious…

Half an hour later, Platinum headed downstairs, having finished getting ready for the day. She found Diamond still happily sleeping, sprawled out on the floor. Pearl was seated on a chair near the kitchen, staring out the glass sliding door that led to the pool in the backyard.

He seemed to have heard her coming down the stairs, as he turned to face her with his usual look of impatience, though it appeared a bit mellower than usual.

“Good morning, Miss Lady,” he said with a smile and a wave.

Platinum returned his smile and wave. “Good morning, Pearl. Did you sleep well?”

Pearl glanced at his sleeping bag on the floor. “Yeah, actually. How about you?”

“I cannot complain, of course.” She glanced at Diamond, who remained fast asleep. “… Pearl… I wish to ask you something… _important_.”

Pearl frowned at how serious she sounded all of a sudden. “Uh… okay, sure. What’s up?”

Platinum walked over to sit next to him by the kitchen. And after casting another glance at Diamond, she began to speak rather quietly. “… Last night, I overheard you and Diamond… _arguing_. … Is everything okay? And if I may ask… what were you arguing about?”

Pearl momentarily pulled back in surprise, as he did not expect that question. “You… heard?”

“Yes. I could not hear your words exactly, but I did hear arguing.”

Pearl looked away from Platinum, feeling a bit flustered and tormented with indecision. He had no idea how he should respond. Should he tell the truth? But… how would the heiress react, hearing that her two best friends were competing and _fighting_ over their race to win her heart, without her knowledge? How would she react, knowing that she had unknowingly and unwillingly created a wedge between her best friends?

No. He could not tell her the truth. It would hurt her too much. And it was the exact thing that he and Diamond promised to avoid at all costs. The heiress must _not_ know what is truly going on, lest it broke her heart. But… that meant that Pearl would have to lie to her right now. After what happened in Canalave City all those years ago, Platinum had nearly blind belief in her two friends. She trusted that they would keep their promise of honesty so much that she would believe in anything they said. And Pearl had tried his best to do his part and be completely honest with her at all times since then. … Was he going to break that right now, by straight up lying to her face? … How would Platinum react, once she found that he had lied to her face like that?

‘ _I’m trapped between a rock and a hard place… More like trapped between solid steel and an **extremely** hard place…_’ He thought as he forced himself to make a decision. ‘ _Miss Lady… I’m so sorry…_ ’ “It wasn’t anything much,” he said, forcing himself to look into her pretty eyes, hoping that she could not see through his lie. “We just had very differing opinions on what our next steps should be, for our comedy routines. I guess it might’ve been serious for our future as comedians, but in reality… not at all.”

Platinum narrowed her eyes as she considered her friend’s words. … It was certainly possible that Diamond would have a different idea on what their goal should be. Though he had followed Pearl’s lead for all these years, he did have differing opinions from time to time, and had voiced them. So it was certainly plausible.

There was a bit of a suspicion at the timing, though. Why would Diamond and Pearl argue about their future as comedians _now_ , when neither of them had brought up anything like this in the past several days? The two boys lived next to each other. Even though she did not have the opportunity to be with them all that much in recent months, the two boys would have no problem talking to each other in her absence. So… why now? Of course, this issue might be a very recent one, which was certainly possible. It was also possible that Pearl or Diamond had brought up the idea for their comedic future last night, and had a disagreement there. It was plausible.

But at the same time, Pearl had hesitated far too long before his response. If he was telling the truth, there would not have been any hesitation. There was no reason for him to hesitate in telling her, since their direction as comedians did not involve her at all. He would have known that she would support them regardless of their decision. So why the hesitation? And why did he look away from her when she had asked him? … Was he lying to her?

Platinum thoughts suddenly came to a stop at that notion. She quickly steered her thoughts far away from that. She did not even want to consider that as a possibility. She did not want to doubt her friend. … But…

‘ _No._ ’ “… Okay. If you say so,” she said at long last, lightening her expression. She felt the doubt lingering in the edges of her thoughts, so she proceeded to change the subject. “So, Pearl. What do you suggest we do today? The weather is expected to be sunny and lovely all day.”

Pearl mentally sighed and glanced out the sliding glass door. “I guess it’ll be a shame to stay indoors in such a nice day. Hmm… Maybe we can do something by the river, for starters.”

“That sounds good,” Platinum said with a nod, but sounding rather unenthusiastic.

“Well then, how about we go wake our resident chef so we can get breakfast and officially start the day?” Pearl suggested.

Platinum nodded again. “Okay. I am getting hungry as well.”

As Pearl went to wake Diamond, Platinum remained seated as a new thought occurred. She had one way of finding out if Pearl had lied to her. All she had to do was talk to Diamond, and ask the same question…

…

“Thank you for the wonderful meal,” Platinum said, finishing her breakfast.

“You’re welcome, Lady,” Diamond said with a smile, but carefully examining her expression. He had noticed throughout breakfast that she had been rather quiet today. And she seemed kind of depressed. Did she have a bad dream? Or… did something happen?

“Yeah, it was real good, as usual,” Pearl said as he went to move some of the dishes to the sink.

Diamond took his own dishes and went to get Platinum’s as well. The heiress was looking down at the table, appearing to be lost in thought.

“… Lady? … Are you okay?” he asked worriedly.

Platinum looked up at him, looking as troubled as she was. She didn’t know how to respond to his question, as she had so many thoughts in her mind. She visibly hesitated on whether she should follow through with what she had on her mind or not. She had doubts about Pearl being truthful to her. She could find out by talking to Diamond right now. If Pearl had been lying, then Diamond’s explanation about the topic of their argument should be different. But if the explanation was the same, then… she had doubted her close friend and distrusted him. Could she handle that guilt? And could she confess such guilt to him?

… If Diamond’s explanation was sufficiently different, then it was an absolute proof that _at least one of them_ was lying to her. … Maybe even both. … Could she handle _that_? … She did not want to know the answer. The best course of action right now was for her to ignore that she had heard her friends arguing, ignore her doubts about Pearl’s honesty, and to _not_ ask Diamond about what happened last night. Once she did, there would be no turning back. … But this doubt was going to eat away at her inside. And Diamond had already noticed that something was wrong. Pearl would probably know as well.

“Diamond…” she began, surprising herself. A part of her wanted to continue. Another part of her desperately wanted her to _not_ ask the question. “I… I need to talk to you… privately…”

Diamond was quite surprised at how she was almost trembling, and how serious she had sounded and looked. “… All right. Give me just a second, and we’ll talk.” He quickly went over to the sink and stacked the dishes there. He returned to the table and stood next to her. “Okay… Do you want to go somewhere first, or…”

Platinum rose to her feet and headed towards the sliding glass door. She unlocked it and slid it open. She beckoned Diamond and stepped outside into the backyard pool, and walked over to sit on a reclining chair. She didn’t sit on it like she would normally, but sat on it sideways so that she could face the other chair, where Diamond would be sitting. He got the hint and sat where she wanted him to, and waited for her to speak.

Platinum hesitated some more before she let out a long sigh and began to talk. “… Diamond… I heard you and Pearl arguing last night,” she said quietly. “I do not know what you were arguing about, but… I am not sure what to say. I do not know if it is any of my business, but you two are my closest friends. I do hope everything is okay…”

“Oh. … You heard us arguing?” Diamond looked down and slowly shook his head. He too, briefly hesitated on how he should respond to her, just as Pearl had. But Diamond made his decision quickly. He wasn’t going to lie to her, no matter what. But… that didn’t mean he had to tell her the complete truth, fully knowing that it would hurt her. All he had to do was tell her a part of the truth. He let out a sigh, as he didn’t want to do this, but… there was no choice. “Lady, I won’t lie to you. … The reason why Pearl and I were arguing was because… well, _him_. More specifically, it was because of his sudden appearance here. I thought this was going to be just the two of us, and planned accordingly. A third person kind of messes up a lot more than you would think. Take cooking, for example. Two people making a meal can be quite fun, but a third person makes it rather hectic and stressful for the one guiding. And of course, a third person means we have to make more food, which takes more ingredients and more time, and… It just wasn’t what I was hoping for. I’m really sorry you had to hear that. We didn’t want to argue in front of you.”

Platinum considered his explanation. She didn’t like the idea that Pearl’s presence was such a bother to Diamond, but she admitted that his sudden appearance would have some adverse effects on the planned activities. Now a third person’s preference was involved, Diamond would have to guide another person in cooking, a quiet and relaxing activity was no longer viable given Pearl’s personality, etc. And since Diamond was the one who had planned and prepared for most of the activities, she could understand his frustrations.

But most importantly… Diamond’s explanation did not match Pearl’s. Platinum briefly considered the possibility that both of her friends were telling the truth. But yesterday, she only heard them arguing briefly. After bidding them good night, she had gone upstairs, and then changed into the bikini to see how she’d look, and then changed back. So when she went to check up on her friends and overheard them arguing, they haven’t been left alone for that long. Her wrestling with the bikini straps had not taken much time, which meant there simply wasn’t enough time for Diamond and Pearl to argue about their comedic future _and_ the issue with Pearl’s sudden appearance. The two had stopped their arguing while she had been listening. Neither knew that she had been listening, which meant that their argument had actually ended right there, instead of continuing quietly. … There was no doubt about it. At least one of the two was lying to her.

Diamond had hesitated before answering her query. But he did not hesitate that long, and his explanation would have affected her. He may have hesitated because he did not want her to disapprove, but eventually chose to tell the truth. Pearl’s hesitation… had no valid explanation. … But… why would Pearl lie to her about this? … Something was amiss. Diamond had to have omitted something in his explanation. And it had to have been _big_ , for Pearl to straight up lie to her face and Diamond to leave it out.

Platinum put a hand over her heart, feeling the sudden pain of betrayal, just like that time in Canalave City, but _much_ worse. Back then, it was the pain of two months’ worth of trust being broken. Right now, the trust that had been building for _7 years_ was breaking.

“I… I cannot believe this…” she muttered, sounding incredibly pained.

“… Lady? What’s wrong?” Diamond asked worriedly. “I’m really sorry if I-”

Platinum suddenly stood up. “… Your explanation does not match Pearl’s explanation,” she said, her voice starting to shake. “… One of you had just lied to me. And the other… did not tell me the complete truth.”

Diamond’s mouth fell open as he felt the dread creeping up to him. … This was quite possibly the worst possible outcome. It would be bad enough if she found out about the competition that had been going on behind her back. But for her to find out that her best friends had _lied_ to her (or not tell her the complete truth), _and_ find out about the competition… Sure, she didn’t know about that one quite yet, but… she was going to. She was going to continue asking until she found out.

Platinum went back into her villa, and Diamond quickly followed. He had to salvage this disaster… somehow…

“Hey, Miss Lady. Is everything okay?” Pearl asked from the kitchen, with a plastic cup of water in his hand.

“No,” Platinum answered. “… Pearl… your explanation of what happened last night does not match Diamond’s explanation. … One of you had lied to me…”

Pearl dropped the plastic cup in shock. “… Miss Lady…”

“Lady, wait,” Diamond said as he ran up to her.

Platinum clenched her hands into fists and glanced back and forth between her two friends. “… You are lying to me… Why? After what happened last time, why would you two be lying to me _again_? … Tell me. What happened last night? Why were you arguing, and why are you trying to hide it from me?”

Diamond and Pearl looked over at each other. … For a moment, Diamond felt quite angry, as Pearl’s sudden appearance yesterday had _really_ screwed everything up. But right now, the more important thing was wondering how the hell they were going to fix this disaster. … Should they just come clean? But… if Platinum knew that her best friends were essentially fighting over her… she was going to blame herself and this situation would become a lot worse.

“Lady… I’m… really sorry,” Diamond said, looking down in shame and anger at himself. “But… As much as I would like to tell you everything, … I… can’t… Not yet… Please try to understand.”

Platinum stared at him in disbelief before looking over at Pearl. He was looking down off to his side, and avoiding eye contact with her. … He wasn’t going to tell her either.

She began to tremble as her anger surged as a response to the pain of betrayal. She closed her eyes and tried to organize her thoughts a little, but she was too agitated. … There was still a chance for her to salvage the situation though. All she had to do was trust Diamond’s words and try to understand, as he had said. If she could just calm down and wait as her friends resolved the issue… But she was far too upset. She could not calm down. She could not just sit there with the pain of betrayal. … And she certainly didn’t want to stay here anymore.

Platinum stormed upstairs to her room and packed up her belongings. And without even a second glance at Diamond or Pearl, she stormed out through the front door and flew off on her Altaria.

Diamond slowly sunk into a chair by the dinner table and buried his face in his hands. Pearl cursed under his breath and sat across the table from him. For a while, the two boys sat in silence as they mulled over what happened and what they could have done, and what they should _not_ have done.

“Dia… no, Diamond…” Pearl began, breaking the silence. “… We _royally_ screwed up here… We have to fix this, as soon as possible.”

“… How?” Diamond asked quietly. “The Lady’s angry at us. But if she finds out what’s going on, she’ll be angry at herself. … There’s nothing we can do at that point…”

…

Sandgem Town, 12 pm…

…

Moon looked up from her notepad when the door suddenly opened to her research room. Usually, she would be in here with Platinum since they shared the same research room in Prof. Rowan’s lab. But since the heiress was away on vacation, Moon was left alone. With Platinum’s vacation lasting a week or so, Moon was going to be alone in here for quite some time.

Moon glanced at the door and quickly stood up, as she saw Platinum standing right there. … Wasn’t she supposed to be in the Resort Area today?

“Oh, Lady! I thought you were on-” She quickly stopped, realizing with a start that her senior was in a _very_ bad mood right now. … Did something happen?

“Moon… I need to talk to you, please,” Platinum said, sounding cold but not upset at her.

Moon winced at the tone but nodded. “Um… of course. How can I help?”

Platinum sat down on her designated seat and faced her junior. “… Right now, you are the only one I can trust with this…”

“… Only one?” Moon said, tilting her head. Given the bonds Platinum had with everyone else, she should be the _third_ person the heiress trusted the most, with the first two being Diamond and Pearl… oh.

“… Diamond and Pearl have _deceived_ me,” Platinum said, trembling at the word. “They have lied to me about something, and they refuse to tell me the truth. And… I am at a loss at what I should do.”

Moon sat there quietly as she listened to Platinum explaining the situation. She put a hand on her chin as she thought about the time Platinum had spent with her two friends in the past few days, and then thought about the relationships between them. Given how tightly knit the Sinnoh Dex Holders were, there was only one thing that could threaten to break apart the relationships, and that was if two of those relationships were trying to become something much bigger and significant than the other.

In this case, if Diamond wanted _more_ out of his bond with Platinum, and Pearl was okay with it, then there wouldn’t be an issue, as Pearl would be satisfied with the current situation. But if Pearl also wanted more, and didn’t want Diamond to do the same, and vice-versa…

‘ _… Oh… Oh no…_ ’ Moon thought with a groan, as she realized what the issue was. … But there was absolutely no way she could get involved here. She didn’t have any right or business getting involved.

“You seem to understand what has happened,” Platinum said, observing her junior’s expression. “… Can you tell me?”

‘ _Why did this have to happen…_ ’ Moon frowned as she wondered if she was about to follow in Diamond and Pearl’s footsteps here. She couldn’t get involved with this, but that would mean that she would have to not tell Platinum the truth. The heiress was already pretty upset about that. And the last thing Moon wanted was for her beloved senior to be upset at her too. “Lady, I… don’t know what to say,” she said uneasily at last. “I don’t know how I can help in this situation, and I don’t know if I even should…”

“I… do not understand… Why would you think that?”

Moon lowered her head a little as she hated herself for what she had to rely on. She couldn’t get involved here, and didn’t want to. But… there were a few who seemed to _like_ getting involved in this kind of situation. “… Sister… this is a very important but private matter. I can’t interfere. Only really _nosy_ people like White and Y would purposely get involved.”

‘ _White and Y?_ ’ Platinum thought as she tilted her head. She suddenly remembered how the two had been acting during their lunch and shopping together before they headed to Kanto, and caught on to Moon’s hint, even though she didn’t fully understand. “… Okay… I shall ask White and Y, then.” She gave her junior a nod and rose to her feet. “Thank you for the assistance, Moon. I will consider your advice.”

“It was hardly an advice or assistance, Lady,” Moon said quietly. “… I’m sorry I’m not of any help here…”

Platinum put a hand on her shoulder. “No, no. You have been very helpful. Thank you.”

Moon bowed as her senior left the room. She waited until the door closed and heard her leaving the lab completely, before taking out her Pokégear. Even though she couldn’t get involved directly in this affair, she could and should help in resolving the issue, so that Platinum could be happy again. And to do that, she needed to talk to Diamond…

…

An hour later…

…

Platinum waited by the picture phone in her room, waiting for White or Y to call her. She had sent them a message, requesting them to call her at their convenience. With them touring Kanto right now, she wasn’t sure if they would have the time until the evening. But it seemed that they either found the time, or had prioritized the call, as the phone started to ring pretty soon. Platinum went over to answer the video call, and soon saw White and Y in the video. They seemed to be outside, as she could see trees and the sky behind them. So White had likely called her with the Xtransceiver.

“Hi, Lady Platinum!” White said cheerfully. “How’s your vacation?”

Platinum let out a long sigh. “… There had been an… _incident_. I am now back in my mansion.”

“Oh no! What happened?” Y asked, pushing White back a little.

Platinum summarized what had happened earlier in the day and last night, and how Diamond and Pearl have both deceived her. “And I am hoping that you two will be able to assist me.”

White and Y glanced at each other worriedly. Platinum narrowed her eyes, as she had seen Diamond and Pearl do that today as well. And she was getting quite annoyed at how often others exchanged quiet glances with hidden messages while she was looking at them.

“This is a lot more serious than I thought…” White whispered. “Should we get involved?”

“We’re not helping if we don’t,” Y whispered back. “It sounds like the situation really went to hell. We should try to help out.” Y thought for a moment before talking into the Xtransceiver. “Okay. Miss Platinum, let me ask you something.” She glanced at White and organized her thoughts before continuing. “… You know how White is like… _super_ close to Black?”

“H – Hey!” White argued, but Y pushed her out of the video call screen.

“I mean, she _clearly_ has a crush on Black, and vice-versa, right? Like… _everyone_ can see it? They’re always lovey-dovey and all…”

Platinum frowned a little, wondering where she was getting at. “… Yes. But how does this…”

“Have you ever thought about… _your own_ situation?” Y asked.

Platinum blinked. “… Me?”

“Do you have a crush on anyone? And… do you know who would have a crush on you?”

Platinum’s eyes opened wide, as she had never considered this before. White pushed Y away and pulled the Xtransceiver close to herself.

“Lady Platinum, what Y is trying to say is… Right now, both Diamond _and_ Pearl are in love with you. They both have a crush on you. And in the past week, they’ve been competing to win your love first.”

Platinum’s mouth fell open in shock. “… They… both…”

White looked at her expression worriedly. “I know this must be very difficult. But… Lady Platinum… who do _you_ love?”

Platinum put a hand over her heart and the other hand over her mouth, as _everything_ clicked in her mind. How frequently Diamond and Pearl offered to do things with her in the past week, how flustered Pearl was during the dance, White and Y’s silly antics during the lunch together, how eager Diamond was to go to the Resort Area with her, how unenthusiastic he was when Pearl appeared, the argument at night, why both of them refused to tell her the truth…

And now it was all clear. The source of the problem… was her. She had no idea that this was happening until now, and had made everything more complicated. And the solution was equally clear and troubling. … Which of them did she love in return?

“… Oh no…”


	7. Determined Heart

Chapter 7: Determined Heart

Sandgem Town, 1:30 pm…

“… _Both_ Diamond and Pearl are… in love with me?” Platinum muttered. “… Oh no… oh no…” She pressed her hands on her temples as a swarm of thoughts flooded her mind. “… Then the reason for the conflict between them… is me? _I_ caused this? … And… the solution to this dilemma is… for me to make a choice? I have to _reject_ one of them?”

“Lady Platinum, please calm down,” White said quickly.

Platinum shook her head as she couldn’t accept the situation. “I… I need time to think…” she managed to say. “… How could this have happened… I…” She shakily approached the picture phone and fumbled with the controls. “I – I apologize, but… I… need time…”

She disconnected the video call and sank into the nearest chair. Her legs were shaking, and her vision felt a little narrow and weird, as this revelation hit her really hard. … How had she not realized that the two boys had a crush on her? … Then again, she had absolutely no experience with this sort of thing, so perhaps it was natural that she missed all the hints. … What even were the hints, anyways? Did Diamond and Pearl behave differently around her?

Platinum searched through her memories, thinking about how her two friends have behaved normally. … But… how was she supposed to know how they were like when she wasn’t around? She had no point of reference to know what was normal and what was not.

… Regardless, the dilemma remained. The two boys were both in love with her. And they were now _fighting_ for her. She now had to make a choice, and decide which one of them she loved in return. She loved both of them as a friend. But as a lover… she had no idea. But she had to reciprocate one of their feelings. But which one?

And if she picked one, the other would be devastated. How could she possibly devastate one of her closest friends? This was a choice that she could not possibly make. Not only did she not know who to pick, but she _must not_ pick one either. She could not estrange one of her friends while being closer with the other one.

… Was there an alternative, though? Was there a way to ensure that all of their bonds remained intact? … If there was, she had no idea what it was. … There was no way that she would be able to find the solution on her own.

…

Several hours later, 7 pm…

…

Moon fumbled with her apartment key, trying to jam the thing into the old lock. … It was times like these when she wished that she had agreed to live in the new apartment that Platinum was going to buy for her. Instead, she had opted for a _much_ more modest accommodation, and was living in an apartment that was older than her, which provided some annoying issues here and there, like this old lock!

Moon grumbled and put a lot more force into her hand, and the key finally went into the lock. … And now it wouldn’t turn because of course it wouldn’t. She now had to wiggle the key while pushing and pulling, to find the one sweet spot where the key would turn and unlock the door.

Having finally found the spot, she unlocked the door to her place and wrestled with the lock some more to get the key out before she was allowed to enter. She locked the door behind her and went over to collapse onto the couch for a bit.

Today had been a tiring day. And she was quite exhausted. But she couldn’t rest for too long, as she had quite the important matter to resolve, or try to at least. She had talked to Diamond and Pearl earlier, and had confirmed her fears. Both Diamond and Pearl were in love with Platinum, and were competing for her. And she had seen a glimpse of it, did not understand, but was upset at the fact that her friends were lying to her.

Diamond and Pearl had told Moon their perspective. And she had no idea what to say. On one hand, she hated how they ended up hurting her beloved senior. But on the other hand… she knew that there was _nothing_ they could’ve done to avoid it.

But what happened had happened. Now she had to figure out a way to fix this mess. Surely by now, Platinum would have talked to White and/or Y, and the two _nosy_ girls would’ve said everything. Which meant by now, Platinum would know that _she_ was the cause of the strife between Diamond and Pearl, and was undoubtedly blaming herself.

Moon slowly closed her eyes as she tried to think. … What was the next step, here? This situation would be solved quite quickly if Platinum just _chose_ one of the two boys. But that wasn’t simple. Did she even have a preference? Did she even love one of them in the same way? But even if she did, there was no way she would make the decision, if it meant that she would end up breaking the heart of the other. So… before anything else, Platinum would need reassurance that her choice wouldn’t hurt anyone. … Maybe if Diamond and Pearl both told her honestly that they would respect her decision and promise to stay close friends as they are now…

But Platinum wouldn’t be willing to talk to either of them when she hadn’t made a decision yet. And so began the cyclic problem. She would not meet them until she had made a decision, but she couldn’t make the decision before meeting them.

There was a sudden knock on the door, jolting Moon out of her thoughts. She let out a long sigh as she didn’t want to get off of the couch, but forced herself up when there was another knock. She slowly trudged towards the door and peeked through the peephole, and to her surprise, she could see Platinum on the other side of the door.

Moon hastily turned the lights on and opened the door. “Lady!”

“… Hello, Moon,” Platinum said, sounding quite devoid of energy. “… May I talk to you?”

“Oh, of course. Please, come in.”

Platinum entered the apartment and moved to sit on the couch. Moon quickly followed her and sat next to her.

“… I have talked to White and Y, as you had suggested,” Platinum began. “… And I am at a loss.”

Moon sat quietly as her senior explained what she had learned from her conversation with White and Y, and what was bothering her now. Moon listened to her worries and confirmed that her predictions had been correct. Which meant that the solution she had in mind would work as well.

“Sister, if I may…” she began once Platinum had paused briefly. “I believe that both Diamond and Pearl love you and care about you enough that they won’t jeopardize their friendship with you or each other. So even if you picked one of them, the other one won’t distance himself from you, and would still remain as close of a friend as he is right now. I know it sucks that you might have to break his heart, but… it won’t be as bad as you fear.”

Platinum still looked worried. “… Are you certain?”

“Absolutely,” Moon said assuredly. “I think if you talked to them again, you’d be sure too.”

Platinum groaned as her fears surfaced again. “I… cannot do that… If I was to talk to them again, I… would have to make the choice. But…”

“I’m afraid that I can’t help you with the choice, sister,” Moon said quietly. “That’s something you have to decide on your own. But… maybe you can ask the other Dex Holders? Well, some of them, anyways. I don’t think they’d all be useful.”

“What would I ask them about?”

“About love,” Moon answered. “You said it yourself that you didn’t know anything about it, and that’s why you can’t choose. So maybe talking with the other Dex Holders who have experience of it would be able to tell you something that will help you decide.”

Platinum put a hand on her chin as she thought. “… Yes. I believe that will be of great assistance…” She looked over at her junior. “I shall start with you.”

“M – Me? But… I don’t know anything either,” Moon stammered out.

“Yes, but you are the closest to me, and you have been of invaluable assistance already. So, Moon, what do you think? Who would you love?”

“Well… um…” She scratched at her cheek embarrassedly. “I think… it’ll have to be someone reliable. Someone who’d never leave my side, you know? He’d be someone I can always lean on, whether physically or emotionally.” She carefully gauged Platinum’s expression before continuing. “And I think he’ll have to be someone who can really comfort me. I guess that overlaps with being emotionally reliable, but I think it’s super important. Because inevitably, there will be a time when I will be really upset or feeling hurt, and I would want someone who can cheer me up in those situations. Someone who never fails in making me feel better.”

Platinum blinked as a memory flashed across her mind, the memory of her struggles in Sinnoh’s Super Contest…

“… I see…” She smiled at her junior. “Thank you, Moon.”

Moon still looked embarrassed. “Was I helpful?”

Platinum gave her a gentle pet on the head. “Yes, of course.”

Moon smiled happily. “Then you’re welcome, sister!”

Platinum soon rose to her feet. “Now… I shall return home and consider your advice more deeply.”

“I’m really happy to have been of some help, sister. And now all I can do is wish you good luck.”

Platinum nodded and waved at her junior before leaving the apartment. And as she headed home, she pondered on Moon’s words and searched through her memories. … Someone who was always there for her, and someone who always succeeded in cheering her up… Among Diamond and Pearl, which one was _always_ there for her? And which one always succeeded in cheering her up?

During the Super Contest, when she had been feeling hated and hurt, both Diamond and Pearl have tried to help. Pearl had lost patience with her weakness and gave up on her, but Diamond… did not. Diamond had made the delicious pie for her, and successfully cheered her up, and gave her so much confidence.

And come to think of it, Pearl would occasionally lose patience with her and yell at her, while Diamond was always there for her, supporting her in his sweet and kind way. But… was it really that simple, though? She would need more opinions and more help in this matter…

Within a few minutes, she reached her mansion and headed up towards her room. She immediately went for the picture phone and briefly wondered who she was going to call. Which Dex Holder would be helpful right now?

She quickly made her decision and called Blue first. She wasn’t sure if the Kanto Dex Holder would be willing to get involved, but surely she’d be okay with just giving advice?

The video screen lit up and Blue appeared as she answered the call. “Oh, Platinum! Hi!”

Platinum gave her a polite bow. “Good evening, senior. Is this a bad time?”

Blue looked over at something off screen. “No, no. I have plenty of time. What’s up?”

“Something has happened recently, and I was hoping to receive your advice on the matter,” Platinum answered. She briefly summarized the recent happenings and described her dilemma. “Can you assist me, senior?”

Blue seemed a bit troubled and quite surprised. “… Huh. This is quite personal. I don’t think I should get involved…”

Platinum nodded, as she expected this. “I understand. In that case… May I ask for your opinion on love, senior? How would you know if you love someone?”

“Whoa. What a question,” Blue said, looking quite embarrassed. She glanced off screen again and moved away for a bit. There was a sound of a door closing, and she returned on screen. “Let’s just make sure this is private…” She cleared her throat and took a few seconds to think. “… Okay. This is going to be embarrassing, but… I think you would love someone if you care more about their happiness than yours. And at the same time, he really makes you happy too. So… is there someone like that comes to mind?”

Platinum thought about Diamond and Pearl briefly. Of course she greatly cared for both of them, and wished to be with them. They both made her very happy, and she always wished for their happiness too. And they both cared for her greatly in their own ways. “I… cannot decide…”

“Right. If you can’t choose, then… think about your shared history,” Blue suggested. “Is there one who always provided you with something that you actually needed? Something that no one else provided?”

“Something that no one else provided…” Platinum mumbled as she searched through her memories again. … Diamond had always been kind and sweet to her. But he wasn’t the only one. She had plenty of people who treated her that way, to varying degrees. But no one had been _strict_ to her like Pearl… at times. No one had reproached her with harsh words that hurt her pride like Pearl did, that forced her into overcoming the hurdles. And while Pearl was harsh at times, Platinum knew that she needed that to better herself.

“I see that you are thinking of someone in particular,” Blue noted. “… Was that what you needed?”

Platinum smiled. “Yes, senior. Thank you so much for your invaluable assistance.”

Blue let out a sigh of relief. “That’s good. And you’re welcome. It’s not every day where I get asked these sorts of things. And of course, everyone’s situations are different. My advice might not apply to you. In the end, it’s all up to you.”

“I understand, senior. And thank you.”

Blue waved at her for a bit before she disconnected the video call. Platinum stared at the blank screen and pondered on her words now that she had more time. While Blue’s advice had certainly been very helpful, a new problem arose. Based on Moon’s advice, Platinum felt that she was leaning more towards Diamond. But Blue’s advice pointed to Pearl. The score was now even, and Platinum felt that she was right back to where she started. So… she would need more advice here.

Platinum took out her Pokégear and called Sapphire. The Hoenn Dex Holder probably wasn’t at a place where she can answer a video call. But lately, she had been convinced to carry around a Pokégear for communication reasons, so she might be able to answer.

“Hello?” Sapphire said as she answered the call.

Platinum noticed that she could hear the wind on the other side. So Sapphire was definitely outdoors as expected. “Good evening, senior.”

“Oh hey, Platinum! Good to hear from you,” Sapphire said cheerfully. “What’s up?”

“I was hoping to receive your advice on a delicate and private matter,” Platinum answered. “Would you be able to assist me?”

“Sure. I was just taking a stroll anyways. So… what did you need?”

Once again, Platinum summarized her problem. “How do you know if you are love?”

“… Huh,” Sapphire mumbled. “… Well, this is unexpected. Um… well, I think you just… know? But… I think it really helps if you have lots of significant moments in your shared history. You know, the kind that you have with no one else.”

“A unique, significant moment…” Platinum muttered as the incident at Lake Valor flashed across her mind.

“I don’t know if that was helpful to you,” Sapphire said. “But… that’s kind of how it works for me.”

“It was very helpful, senior. Thank you very much,” Platinum said politely.

She soon hung up and thought more about the incident in Lake Valor. Pearl had been separated, leaving her with Diamond. And there, Diamond revealed what he experienced in Lake Verity, something that he did not share with anyone, even Pearl. She had asked why he shared it with her when he did not do so with Pearl, but she understood. It was because he was very comfortable around her, to the point where he was willing to share things like that.

And then the fight against those “scientists” happened and Diamond did his best to fight for her and defend her…

It was a significant moment, for sure. It may have been more significant to Diamond than it was for her, but it was very important to her nonetheless. It was the moment when she felt that she had truly gotten close to one of her only friends.

Platinum checked the clock. It was starting to get late, as she spent a lot of time traversing through her memories. But she still felt that she was nowhere close to figuring this out. She still had more people to call and more advice to get and think about. … This was going to take a long time…

…

A week later…

…

Moon glanced at Platinum as the heiress walked into the research lab for her shift. As usual in the past week, she looked quite tired and stressed. It was clear that she still hasn’t figured out the issue that had plagued her and was eating away at her. The longer she stalled, the more she’d suffer, but she was definitely not willing to make the choice yet.

“Sister…” Moon began carefully. “… Are you feeling okay?”

Platinum sat on her chair and sighed. “I… do not know.”

“Have you talked to Diamond or Pearl lately?” Moon asked.

Platinum shook her head. “No. … I… am not ready…”

Moon frowned, as she knew that at this rate, the heiress would _never_ be ready. She would never be able to initiate it, so… she would need assistance. “… I understand, Lady. Take your time.”

Platinum let out a long sigh and started on her workload for the day. Moon continued on her own workload as she thought of a plan. Maybe if Platinum stumbled into Diamond and Pearl, she’d be forced to make the choice and end this torment. Moon waited for Platinum to be distracted by her workload. Once the heiress was sufficiently focused, she slowly took out her Pokégear and set it hidden from view. And with one hand, she proceeded to send Diamond a message.

_“Sister still can’t decide. You and Pearl have to help end her torment now!”_

Diamond’s reply came shortly. _“How?”_

Moon glanced at the clock. _“Her break starts in 40 minutes. She’ll be walking around the town so find her and talk to her.”_

Moon cast a quick glance at Platinum, and quietly put her Pokégear away. And 40 minutes later, she heard the heiress finish typing as she got ready for her break.

“Oh, Lady,” she began, casting a glance at the clock. “Are you taking your break?”

Platinum sighed in relief as she pushed herself away from her desk. “Yes. I need to take a breather.”

“If you need some fresh air, why not take a stroll around the town?” Moon suggested.

Platinum looked out the window. It was sunny outside, so maybe walking around in the good weather would be quite helpful. “… Yes. Perhaps I shall.”

Platinum stood up and gave Moon a pat on the shoulder as she walked out of the lab. Outside, Platinum pulled the lab coat around her tighter as she looked up at the cloudless sky and took a deep breath. It was definitely helping her calm down and restore her mood.

She let out a long sigh and slowly headed towards the café she frequented during work days, so that she could get her favorite iced tea, and something for Moon too. But as she headed towards the café, she saw some familiar people in the distance, heading towards her. … Diamond and Pearl!

Platinum quickly stopped in her steps and turned around. She wasn’t ready… she wasn’t ready!

“Miss Lady!” Pearl called out, having spotted her.

Platinum remained rooted in the spot, as she couldn’t ignore them and run, but also couldn’t turn to face them. She could hear footsteps and Diamond and Pearl ran up towards her. And once she heard them right behind her, she slowly turned to look in their direction, though she kept her head down.

“Lady… I’m so sorry,” Diamond began. “… I… really love you, Lady. I always have and I always will. I want you to be happy, but… I know that after what happened, I really hurt your feelings and made you sad instead. … And I’m really sorry.”

“Miss Lady, I think… this has to end right now. For all our sakes,” Pearl said as well. “… I want us to return to being friends again, and hang out together…”

“Lady, please know that whatever happens, we’ll always be good friends,” Diamond said. “Even if you picked Pearl, I would be okay with it. I will continue to support you and Pearl.”

“And same for here,” Pearl said. “Our friendships won’t ever change. We promise.”

Platinum put on a pained expression as she looked at both of her friends. “… I… do not want to hurt your feelings… But if I make a decision, I will end up hurting one of you…”

“Please trust us, Lady,” Diamond said, taking a step closer. “… Seeing you like this hurts us far more. We won’t be hurt by your decision. We love you enough to respect your choice, and we value our friendship enough to stay as close friends regardless of your choice. So… please…”

“… Do I have to?” Platinum asked, putting her hands over her heart.

“We can’t let you stay like this,” Pearl said, stepping towards her as well. “We want you to smile and be happy.”

Platinum let out a long sigh and looked down at the ground. “… Okay…”

“Thank you,” Diamond said. “… We’re ready.”

Platinum looked up at her friends, who were standing equidistance away from her and each other. She glanced back and forth between them, desperately wishing that she didn’t have to do what she had to do. … She did make her decision several days ago. She just had to follow through, but…

She slowly walked around, trying to muster up the courage. She could feel her friends’ gaze and felt more and more nervous. But… maybe she should trust her friends again and believe that none of their friendships would be damaged by the decision.

Pearl closed his eyes and held his breath as Platinum walked around him. … This was it. This was the moment. Platinum was going to have to make her choice now. Her expression had told him just how much she had struggled with this choice for the past few days. And his last glimpse told him that she still did not want to make a choice. But she had to.

He could tell that Diamond was doing the same thing next to him. He too, was holding his breath and had his eyes closed. Pearl couldn’t hear anything from Diamond. All he could hear was Platinum’s slow footsteps as she paced around.

Pearl caught a whiff of her strawberry scented perfume, and a slight breeze as she had walked right past him, between him and Diamond. Her long hair brushed past his arm and he felt a shudder. Oh, this anxiety was going to kill him…

After what felt like an eternity, the footsteps circled around him and stopped right in front of him. Pearl stood up straighter and felt his heart beginning to race. The strawberry perfume was strong right now. Platinum was standing right in front of him.

He suddenly felt her slender arms wrapping around his neck, as she slowly embraced him. He could feel her softness being pushed up against his body as she embraced him tight. And as his heart was beating so quickly that it sounded like a drum solo in the confines of his chest, he felt her soft lips pressing against his cheek.

Pearl’s eyes snapped open and he felt his breath caught in his throat. Was it really happening? Did she actually choose him?! Platinum broke the kiss to his cheek and held him close for a bit before pulling back. Pearl snapped out of his shock and his arms quickly rose to try to hug her back, but she had already stepped away from him, and was looking away from him, as if afraid to make eye contact.

Pearl felt his heart coming to a sudden halt, as he realized what had actually happened. … And it was not what he had in mind.

Platinum lowered her head and mumbled quietly. But it could not have been any louder or clearer to him.

“… I am so sorry, Pearl…”

She then slowly turned to face Diamond and wrapped her arms around him. But this time, she pressed her lips onto his mouth, making her choice perfectly clear.

Platinum pulled away from the kiss quickly too, as she really didn’t want to do this right now. She stepped away from Diamond and lowered her head, as if terrified of the consequences of her choice. She clenched her eyes shut and pressed her hands over her heart, and looked to be a second away from breaking down.

Pearl closed his eyes too and looked up towards the sky. … It was over. He lost. The heiress had made her choice, and it wasn’t him. And now he had to live with it. He opened his eyes, as the uncomfortable silence made him realize something. Just as Moon said before, Platinum currently hated herself for making the choice, and was really hurt and upset. Diamond, as the winner of this competition, was in no position to say anything right now. Anything he said could be deemed as gloating, which would worsen the mood. Diamond surely knew that as well, as he looked just as sad as Platinum was, and remained silent.

… As the loser of the competition, it was up to Pearl to brighten the mood and comfort Platinum so that she can be happy again. … This was going to hurt him though, as he wanted and needed time to mull over his heartbreak. But… for her sake…

He took a deep breath and began to clap. Both Diamond and Platinum looked at him in surprise, and were more surprised to see a smile on his face.

“Great choice, Miss Lady,” Pearl said, exaggerating his smile. “Though to be fair, there wasn’t a bad choice, here.” He glanced at his two friends and nodded. “Yeah. I think you’ll be great and happy together.” He turned to face Diamond and extended a hand. “Congratulations, Dia… no, Diamond.”

Diamond quickly figured out what Pearl was doing, and did his best to assist. He shook his hand and smiled. “Thank you, Pearl. … And I’m sorry about how this turned out.”

“Nah. Don’t be. We knew that this would happen to one of us in the end. And we agreed to accept and respect the decision, and not let it affect us at all.”

“… Pearl…” Platinum began quietly, feeling the need to say something and apologize.

“It’s okay, Miss Lady,” Pearl said with a bright smile. “I’m really happy for you. And as I promised, this won’t affect our friendship at all.” He extended a fist towards her. “After all, I wouldn’t want to trade this away for anything.”

Diamond joined his fist. “We were best friends for as long as either of us can remember. And we’ll stay that way as long as we live.”

Platinum finally managed to smile and joined her fist with theirs, thus forming their symbol of trust. “… Thank you, Diamond… Pearl…” She wiped away a tear that had formed in her eye, and looked as if her worries had finally disappeared. “No matter what happens, as long as we live, this bond of ours will never break. We will always be closest of friends.”

The three Sinnoh Dex Holders held the symbol for a few more seconds before raising their hand in the air in unison. Pearl gave his friends another round of applause.

“Now then. How about we all go back to the villa in the Resort Area and have some fun?” he suggested. “After all, the last one… didn’t really go so well. And this time, it’ll be purely as friends.” ‘ _And once this ends, I won’t be able to join in as much. I wouldn’t want to interfere in your dates._ ’

“That’s a great idea,” Diamond said with a nod. “What do you say, Lady?”

Platinum smiled brightly, greatly relieved to know that her friendships would be back to normal, and nodded. “Yes, of course! I will go make the arrangements right now!”

Pearl nodded and watched as Platinum walked away a bit to make the necessary calls. Now that she was out of range, he approached Diamond with a sigh.

“… You won, Dia,” he began in a whisper. “So you better step up and make her happy, you hear me? For my sake too.”

Diamond nodded. “Don’t you worry. I will.” He glanced over at Platinum for a split second. “And… thanks, Pearl, for brightening up her mood. Things would’ve gone badly if you didn’t say that.”

Pearl looked at Platinum again. “Yeah. But even though I lost, I still want the same thing, and that is for her to be happy. So I’ll still do all I can to make her happy, even if that means I’m just supporting you two.” He let out another sigh and stuffed his hands in his pockets. “Well, come on, man. Let’s make up to her for the trip we ruined and have some fun together while doing it. And… afterwards, you two can officially start dating. But until then… let’s all just be good friends on a vacation.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Despite the title, Platinum’s heart doesn’t go to the guy with the determination. But as compensation for the heartbreak, he gets to act as the cool guy in the end. So… balance! And of course, while Diamond and Platinum may get closer than ever, the Sinnoh trio remains strong together!


End file.
